Chelsea flop makes truth promise before Enzo Maresca pre-season after transfer controversy

Chelsea defender Malang Sarr has vowed on social media to ”re-establish the truth’ after spending the season outside of the first team. Sarr was left out of the senior side from pre- season onwards 12 months ago under Mauricio Pochettino and was never given a chance to prove himself from there on in.

Now, with just one year left on his initial five-year contract signed in 2020 when leaving Nice on a free transfer, Sarr is gearing up for 2024/25. With just 21 appearances for the Blues, , but has first taken to Instagram to show off his work recently.

In a video highlighting the physical work in the gym and on the training ground – although Cobham is not pictured – Sarr is putting himself through the paces in a number of locations. From weight lifting with a personal trainer to doing agility sprints on the beach, Sarr is seen getting himself up to speed.

Instagram

The 25-year-old has so far not played a senior game in 2024 and wasn’t called on by Chelsea’s academy sides either despite training with them on a weekly basis. He did come close to an exit six months ago when Ligue 1 side Le Havre thought they had secured a loan deal.

“With just a few details still to be worked out, they did a U- turn,” club president Mathieu Bodmer fumed. “They gave the youngster the go-ahead to travel, and a financial agreement had been reached for the 18 months of his remaining contract at Chelsea.

“Everything was OK, the contract had even been submitted to the league, but we never received Chelsea’s cancellation. In the end, they just told him he wouldn’t be leaving…”

That would have been Sarr’s third loan since he joined the club having gone out to Porto and Monaco in the previous years. With just 21 appearances for the Blues, he is now aiming to revitalise his career once more. In a second social media post in as many days – his first related to football since May 2023 and an operation announcement, Sarr writes,

“Time to re-establish the truth [fleur-de-lis emoji]”. The day before he posted two images from a training session captioned, “Hunting [lion emoji]”.