Who is Mamadou Sarr? Why Chelsea fans should be excited about 'scary' new signing with 'world-class' potential | OneFootball

Young centre-back takes inspiration from Virgil van Dijk and is being tipped for a big future

Chelsea have made their third signing of the summer transfer window with the arrival of centre-back Mamadou Sarr.

He follows Liam Delap and Dario Essugo in moving to Stamford Bridge.

Sarr celebrates Strasbourg’s first goal in a 2-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain

AFP via Getty Images

Sarr has signed an eight-year deal at Chelsea and joins Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo in their central defensive ranks.

His father Pape is a former footballer himself, running out as a midfielder for Senegal between 2000 and 2004 - winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 2002 - and playing most of his games for Saint-Etienne.

But Sarr, born in Martigues in north-west of Marseille, spent six years in Lens’ academy between 2012 and 2018, while his father was in the first-team there.

He moved to Lyon in 2018, establishing himself as a starter in their Under-19s side, winning the Coupe Gambardella - the French Under-18s cup - while in their youth set-up.

Sarr scored in both the quarter-final and semi-final victories over Strasbourg and Troyes respectively.

He made his professional debut for Lyon in 2023, coming on for Maxence Caqueret in a 3-0 win over Will Still’s Reims, before he was shipped off on loan to Belgian outfit RWD Molenbeek.

Sarr is set to join up with the Chelsea squad for the Club World Cup

AFP via Getty Images

Strasbourg forked out €10m to sign him, but after impressing in his first six months an agreement was struck in January to bring him to Chelsea.

Rosenior, the Strasbourg head coach, was so impressed with Sarr that he called his performances “scary”, predicting that the Frenchman would go on to be “world-class”.

“I could talk for hours about him. His nickname is Mamadou Rosenior, he's my son,” Rosenior said.

“It's scary to show such performances at 19 with such calm in the face of such strong teams. He just has to stay humble and calm and he will be a top player for sure.

“His temperament, his athleticism, his ability on the ball… he’s got everything you need to be a world-class centre-half.”

Sarr is an Under-20 French international, and has made two appearances for the side. Before that, he had played 30 times moving up the age groups, from Under-17s to Under-19s, and he played four of France’s six games as they won the Under-17 European Championships in 2022.

Speaking last year, Sarr said that he drew inspiration from “the charisma and personality” of Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, as well as the Dutchman’s defensive partner at Anfield, Ibrahima Konate.

Sarr described himself as a “very calm, very collected defender”, standing out with his “good technique with the ball” and his vision.

Standing at 6ft 4in, Sarr certainly has the height of Van Dijk, and the athleticism of Konate in his locker to boot.

There has been no indication that Chelsea are considering loaning Sarr back to Strasbourg, with the Blues expected instead to give him a first run-out at the Club World Cup in the United States this summer.