Malang Sarr believes he 'paid the price' as 'a victim of the football business' at Chelsea
Today at 02:44 AM
No regrets, except maybe a few?
He wasn't the first and he wouldn't be the last, but Malang Sarr found himself among that year's undesirables as Chelsea were gearing up for the 2023-24 season under Mauricio Pochettino, deemed surplus to requirements but without any real prospects in the transfer or loan market.
He would in fact end up spending that entire season in footballing limbo, not even training with the first-team but obviously getting paid as per the terms of his contract. He would eventually agree to cancel that contract last summer (after a potential move last January fell apart as well), before joining RC Lens back in Ligue 1.
On the surface, the four years he spent on our books was hardly a tragedy. We signed him on a free from OGC Nice, where he let his contract expire after failing to live up to some high expectations as a teenager. He spent that first season on loan at Porto, then spent a season with Chelsea, then a season with Monaco — backup roles with all three, averaging just under 20 appearances per — and then the one year in limbo. He was playing a bit of football at the highest level, and getting paid handsomely for it. Living the dream!
But below the surface, that's certainly not a great situation, be that professionally or personally. His predicament last year took a toll on him mentally and it certainly didn't help when Pochettino's response to getting blindsided by a random question about Sarr in the post-match press conference after his first win as Chelsea manager went viral. (NB. It wasn't that Pochettino didn't know who Sarr was, it was more that a) he didn't understand the question right away and b) he really didn't expect to be asked about random fringe players to illustrate a point about the bloated squad at that point.)
Sarr didn't find any of that amusing.
"I took it badly. It shouldn't have happened. [Poch] knew me. He even tried to sign me at Tottenham. I didn't ask for an explanation."
"[While I have no regrets about joining Chelsea] was I a victim of the football business? That's a big word but yes, I paid the price. If this exclusion had been linked to my performances, or to the fact that I wasn't a good person, I would have had to work on myself. But I experienced all that in spite of myself."
I mean ... performances probably had something to do with it, on some level, too, even if the playing field isn't necessarily level and other factors come into play when it comes to these sorts of decisions. I'm sure Sarr could've had a good chat with many an Academy youngster about that during his time training there, if he wished. But it's a good reminder that behind all this business, there are still real humans who are affected.
Sarr, who's still just 25, seems to be happier now thankfully, and is a growing part of the rotation at Lens at the moment, having appeared in four of their last six games (two starts).
