Chelsea 'rip up contract' of forgotten man who played eight league games in four years on £100k-a-week
07/22/2024 03:27 PM
Chelsea defender Malang Sarr has been released by the club, according to reports.
The 25-year-old arrived at Stamford Bridge as a free agent following the end of his Nice contract in 2020, penning a five year deal.
That included wages of £100,000-per-week.
Sarr spent his first season out on loan with Porto, before signing for Monaco on a year-long deal.
He's played just 21 games for Chelsea, eight of them in the Premier League,, and scooping up a whopping £20.8million in the process – but he is now reported to be heading for the exit.
According to L'Equipe, Sarr is expected to sign for Ligue 1 outfit Lens.
He had one year left on his deal with Chelsea.
However, he now looks set to leave as a free agent.
Monaco had been given an option to buy when Sarr went on loan there in the 2022/23 season, but the French side decided not to go through with it.
A reported move to Le Havre in January fell through, with the French club's director Mathieu Bodmer blaming Chelsea for the collapse of the deal.
He said at the time: "What Chelsea did to Malang Sarr was disgraceful. With just a few details still to be worked out, they did a U-turn. They gave the youngster the go-ahead to travel, and a financial agreement had been reached for the 18 months of his remaining contract at Chelsea.
"However, on several occasions, they went back on their agreement, and then gave it again. And once the player had agreed to make a big effort, to come to us on a tiny salary, just to play football, they blocked him.
"Everything was OK, the contract had even been submitted to the league, but we never received Chelsea's cancellation. In the end, they just told him he wouldn't be leaving and they didn't even answer the phone anymore."
The Athletic also reported a source close to Sarr said they had 'never seen him as low as this' after that deal failed to materialise.
Meanwhile, talkSPORT understands Chelsea have decided to leave Trevoh Chalobah at home during the first team's pre-season tour of the US.
The defender is one of the stars the Blues are willing to sell this summer amid interest from Crystal Palace.
Another homegrown talent, Conor Gallagher, has also been linked with moving on this summer, with talkSPORT reporting Atletico Madrid are keen on the midfielder earlier this month.
Chelsea are set to face Wrexham, CelticClub America, Manchester City and Real Madrid in pre-season before facing the reigning Premier League champions in their opening match of the season.
