Chelsea flop lashes out at Mauricio Pochettino with shock Tottenham transfer revelation

Malang Sarr has hit out at former Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino after he was left embarrassed by comments made in a press conference last season. The France defender, who left Stamford Bridge in the summer following four years of footballing purgatory, has also criticised the club's transfer methods.

Having arrived in 2020 on a free from Nice, Sarr would only play 21 times for Chelsea, heading out on loan twice before joining Lens at the end of his contract in June. Despite being close to an exit on deadline day in Pochettino's only summer in charge, Sarr saw a loan deal fall through as alternative deals were pursued by Chelsea.

He had been set to sign for Ligue 1 outfit Le Havre but had to make do with being relegated to training with the academy sides from there on in. Sarr was not considered for first team duties in the 2023/24 campaign at Chelsea.

On one of the few occasions that Pochettino was confronted about his absence from the senior setup, Sarr was left as effectively the butt of the joke. 'Who?' Pochettino asked when it was put to him about the plans for Sarr.

The Argentine manager, who is now in place with the United States Men's National Team (USMNT), defended his response, claiming that he did not understand the question or who it was referring to. However, the incident hurt Sarr.

"I took it badly," he told French publication L'Equipe. "It shouldn’t have happened. He knew me well, after all, he had even considered signing me at Tottenham. I didn’t feel the need to ask for an explanation."

Sarr is now back playing more regularly. Although he started the season on the bench at Lens, the 25-year-old has started to get more minutes following a drop in form. His last league game was starting in a 3-1 defeat to Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille.

The drop in game time and form for Sarr, who Chelsea failed to make money on despite signing him for no upfront fee, has left him having to repair what had been a promising career. Sarr had made good progress towards representing the France national team, being capped at every age group from Under-16s to Under-21s before his move to London.

He doesn't regret the choice to leave his home country when he did, though, even if he does feel like the cirumstances of the transfer market had a negative effect. "Was I a victim of the football business?" he said. "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.”

Chelsea and Sarr finally went their separate ways, as did Pochettino, with all parties now appearing to be doing better for it.

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