The nightmare is finally over. Malang Sarr has agreed a termination of his contract with Chelsea and has joined RC Lens.
Still just 25, the centre back joined Chelsea on a free transfer 4 years ago. The idea was that a free, talented 21 year old would be an easy way to make money in a sale, even if he didn’t crack the first team.
But loans to Porto and Monaco didn’t really work out, and one season where he was an occasional sub for Thomas Tuchel didn’t establish him either. From early on we were keen to sell him, but nobody would match the wages he was on here and before long he became a forgotten man forced to train with the reserves and the kids, hidden from photos and videos.
According to the Athletic, his mutual termination of his contract means he won’t get any wages from Chelsea this year, but is freed up to sign for Lens in his native France.
A cautionary tale for future plans
Many people would say that the treatment of Sarr has been disgraceful, and came close to breaking labour laws. Chelsea were the ones who handed him the contract he’s on, and it’s not his fault that other clubs didn’t want to sign him at the prices they were offering him out for.
These tragic stories do happen from time to time in football – we just hope that Sarr can move on from these wasted years of his career and get back to enjoying football in Ligue 1 again. He’s earned some good money and can now hopefully focus on making the most of his ability and enjoying himself in the game again.
The whole farrago is a stark reminder that snapping up decently rated players on a free to sell for a “certain profit” is never as easy as it looks or sounds.
