Malang Mamadou William Georges Sarr (born 23 January 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defender for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club Monaco, on loan from Premier League club Chelsea. He has also represented France at youth international level. An academy graduate of Nice, Sarr scored on his senior debut in 2016 and made over 100 appearances for the club.

Early life

Sarr was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes.

Club career

Nice

Sarr joined local side

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

at the age of six. He spent the next 12 years in the club's academy before making his

debut for the club on 14 August 2016 against

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, aged 17. He scored the winning goal for his team in the 60th minute, heading home from a

Jean Michaël Seri Jean Michaël Seri (born 19 July 1991) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for EFL Championship club Hull City and the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Early career in the Ivory Coast In his native Iv ...

free-kick. In doing so, he became the second youngest player to ever score on debut in Ligue 1, behind Nigerian international Bartholomew Ogbeche. After the match, Sarr dedicated his goal to the victims of the 2016 Nice terror attack. Prior to kick-off a minute's silence was observed in memory of the victims with both Nice and Rennes wearing unique commemorative shirts bearing the names of those who had died. On 7 November 2016, Sarr signed his first professional contract with Nice and by the end of the season had made over 30 appearances as the club ended the league campaign in third place. In February 2018, Sarr was named by the CIES Football Observatory as the world's fifth-most promising footballer under the age of 20. Competing with

Maxime Le Marchand Maxime Le Marchand (born 11 October 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre back for club Strasbourg. Career Youth career Le Marchand was born in the port city of Saint-Malo in Brittany and began his youth football ca ...

and new loan signing

Marlon Marlon is a masculine given name. According to the ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', the popularity of Marlon Brando led to general awareness of the name (his father was also named Marlon), though the origin of the name is not known. Speculatio ...

, Sarr saw his game time slightly reduced but still managed to record 29 appearances across all competitions for the campaign. On 10 August 2019, the opening day of the

2019–20 Ligue 1 The 2019–20 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Conforama for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 82nd season since its establishment. The season began on 9 August 2019 and ended abruptl ...

campaign, Sarr made his 100th appearance for Nice across all competitions when he started in a 2–1 win over Amiens. His contract expired on 30 June 2020 and subsequently became a free agent.

Chelsea

On 27 August 2020, Chelsea announced the signing of Sarr on a five-year deal.

2020–21 season: Loan to Porto

On 6 October 2020, Sarr joined the Portuguese side Porto on loan for the rest of the 2020–21 season. On 21 October 2020, Sarr made his Porto debut during their UEFA Champions League group stage tie with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, featuring for 80 minutes before being replaced by Evanilson in the 3–1 away defeat. Sarr went onto score his only goal for the club in a

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

tie against

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

in December 2020, netting the opener in their 2–1 victory. Sarr went onto feature 19 times in all competitions for the Dragões before returning to Chelsea ahead of the 2021–22 campaign.

2021–22 season: Return from loan

Following proposed loan moves to Germany, Italy and France reportedly collapsing, Sarr opted to stay at Chelsea and was subsequently given the number 31 jersey for the forthcoming 2021–22 campaign. On 22 September 2021, Sarr made his Chelsea debut during a 1–1 draw in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, featuring for the full 90 minutes as the Blues progressed to the fourth round following a 4–3 penalty shootout victory. A month later, he made his Premier League debut against newly-promoted

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

due to the unavailability of Antonio Rüdiger and Thiago Silva, playing the full 90 minutes and keeping a clean sheet during the 1–0 victory. In January 2022, he started at left-back against Tottenham in the

semi-final. It was the start of an extended run in the first-team for Sarr. On 12 February 2022, Sarr was an extra-time substitute as Chelsea won the

2021 FIFA Club World Cup The 2021 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2021 presented by Alibaba Cloud for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament betwe ...

title, beating Palmeiras. He was also a substitute in the semi-final game against

Al-Hilal Hilal or Al-Hilal may refer to: *Hilal ( ar, هلال, ''hilāl''), a crescent ** the crescent Moon visible after a new Moon, determining the beginning of a month in the Islamic calendar * Banu Hilal, a confederation of tribes of Arabia Arts ...

2022–23 season: Loan to Monaco

On 10 August 2022, Sarr joined Monaco on a season-long loan deal, with an option to buy.

International career

Sarr has represented France at various youth levels and in September 2016, Sarr was named as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the 20-man France U18 squad by manager Bernard Diomède for the 2016 Limoges Tournament. In 2018, he confirmed that he had been approached by the

Senegalese Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Football Association to represent the nation but stated that he had hoped to achieve greater things with France.

Personal life

Sarr was born in the neighbourhood of les Moulins in Nice. He is of Senegalese descent through his parents who immigrated to France prior to his birth. Sarr is a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Career statistics

Honours

Chelsea *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* FA Cup runner-up: 2021–22 *

runner-up: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Chelsea F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarr, Malang 1999 births Living people Footballers from Nice French footballers Men's association football defenders OGC Nice players Chelsea F.C. players FC Porto players FC Porto B players AS Monaco FC players Ligue 1 players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Premier League players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Portugal French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Senegalese descent