Premier League: who is Malang Sarr, the defender responsible for Chelsea's defeat?

Malang Sarr was born in Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France on January 23, 1999. He is a French footballer who plays as a defender for Chelsea F. C. of the English Premier League.

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Who is Malang Sarr?

Born in Nice, Sarr joined local side OGC Nice at the age of six. He spent the next 12 years in the club's academy before making his Ligue 1 debut for the club on August 14, 2016, against Rennes, aged 17. 

In the 60th minute, he scored his first official goal, and thanks to his goal they won 1-0. He was voted player of the match by the club's fans. He wore jersey number 34 and played his first match at the age of 17 years and 204 days.

In doing so, he became the second-youngest player to score on his Ligue 1 debut, behind Nigeria international Bartholomew Ogbeche. After the match, Sarr dedicated his goal to the victims of the 2016 Nice terrorist attack. Before kick-off, a minute's silence was observed in memory of the victims with Nice and Rennes wearing unique commemorative shirts bearing the names of those who had died.

On November 7, 2016, Sarr signed his first professional contract with Nice and at the end of the season made over 30 appearances as the club finished the league campaign in third place.

In February 2018, Sarr was named by the CIES Football Observatory as the fifth most promising footballer in the world under the age of 20. 

Arrival at Chelsea

In June 2020, his time at Nice came to an end at the end of his contract. On August 27, he officially signed for Chelsea F.C. for five seasons, although the first of them would be on loan. On October 6, it was confirmed that he would play for F.C. Porto.

In the season with Porto, he played 19 games with the first team, scoring one goal, although he also played with the second team, doing so 8 times and also scoring one goal.

In the current 2021/22 season, he returned to Chelsea and has played 19 official matches, participating in all competitions, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Champions League, and Premier League. Although he is not an undisputed starter, Thomas Tuchel has given him minutes.

France national team

Sarr has represented France at various youth levels and, in September 2016, Sarr was named as the captain of the 20-man France Under-18 squad with manager Bernard Diomède for the 2016 Limoges Tournament. In 2018, he confirmed that he had been approached by the Senegal Football Association to represent the nation, but stated that he hoped to achieve great things with France.

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