Malang Sarr to return to Chelsea, Monaco’s Paul Mitchell confirms | OneFootball

AS Monaco Sporting Director Paul Mitchell has confirmed that Malang Sarr (24) won’t be playing for the Principality club next season. The Frenchman joined Les Monégasques last summer on a season-long loan in a deal that included an option to make the move permanent.

It was expected that Monaco wouldn’t trigger the clause in Sarr’s loan after a largely unsuccessful loan spell with the Principality Club. The former OGC Nice centre-back has played just 17 times for Monaco this season, a meagre figure, especially given Benoît Badiashile’s mid-season departure to Chelsea.

Sarr has struggled with injuries and fitness throughout, but even when fit, alternatives, notably Badiashile and then Guillermo Maripán have been preferred. His final appearance for Monaco came against Stade de Reims on 12th March before an injury ruled him out until the end of the season. The Frenchman has recently undergone surgery.

The departure of Alexander Nübel back to Bayern Munich has also been confirmed, but the future of Thomas Didillon, currently on loan from satellite club Cercle Brugge, is yet to be decided.

“Malang (Sarr) unfortunately got an injury, a muscular abdominal injury in training a few months ago so he wasn’t available for selection for a long time. Alex will go back to Bayern Munich. Thomas, we’re yet to make a decision on what we’re going to do. Malang has already gone back to Chelsea,” Mitchell told Get French Football News in a roundtable interview at Monaco’s Performance Centre in La Turbie.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle