Chelsea flop breaks silence on 'banishment' and slams manager

Tom Weber

Updated: 24 Nov 2024 13:20 GMT
3 min read

Former Chelsea defender Malang Sarr has broken his silence on his 'banishment' from Stamford Bridge and had some choice words for ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino.

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The Frenchman arrived at Chelsea in 2020 as a highly-rated, versatile defender. At OGC Nice, the 25-year-old had managed to impress to the point where he was in contention for a spot in the French national team.

On a free transfer, he was viewed as a brilliant piece of business by the Blues, but things would ultimately not go to plan. After several loans, Sarr eventually found himself on the outside looking in.

Despite only leaving the club for RC Lens this summer, Sarr had not actually played for Chelsea since the final day of the 2021/22 season and wasn't even allowed to train with the team during Mauricio Pochettino's time in west London.

Indeed, the Argentine bizarrely did not even appear to know who Sarr was when quizzed about his future in the summer of 2023 despite the fact, as he has now revealed, the manager previously wanted to sign him for Tottenham.

Sarr breaks silence

Speaking to L'Equipe, Sarr has now broken his silence on his Chelsea ordeal and insisted that he has no regrets despite losing valuable years of his career.

“A victim of football business is a strong term but I’ve paid for it. If this banishment [at Chelsea] was linked to my performance or because I wasn’t a good person, I should have worked on myself but I experienced all of that despite myself,” he said.

Regarding Pochettino's actions, he bluntly said: "I took it badly. It shouldn’t have happened. He knew me. He even tried to sign me at Tottenham. I didn’t ask for an explanation.”

Despite his fresh start at Lens, Sarr is still in the process of finding his feet. To date, he has only made five appearances for the Ligue 1 side.