OFFICIAL: Chelsea confirm loan which raises one big question about squad planning | OneFootball

In terms of completed deals, this is likely going to be Chelsea’s busiest week of the year. With the Club World Cup in the rear view mirror and clubs across the continent starting their preseasons, this is the moment to get the smaller deals done.

That includes a lot of loans – we saw Kendry Paez make his move yesterday, and today it’s the turn of Mamadou Sarr.

France defender returns to former club for important loan season

Mamadou Sarr on the ball. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

The defender signed for Chelsea this summer from Strasbourg, and was included in the Club World Cup squad. That allowed him a month training with Enzo Maresca and his future teammates. He even got on the pitch when we played ES Tunis in the group stage.

Now the club has confirmed that he’s returning to Strasbourg on loan for the year. The 19 year old has already picked up an exceptional number of appearances for his age, and with any luck could rack up another 40 or 50 this season.

We knew this move was coming – Fabrizio Romano told us this was the plan back in July. It’s slightly puzzling that we bought him and loaned him back, using a crucial loan slot, when we would have just arranged a future purchase for next summer.

Sarr return crucial for Strasbourg who try to get season back on track

As we said regarding the Paez deal yesterday, this is potentially going to be a very tough season for Strasbourg. It would be hard for them to match their achievements from last season under the best circumstances, but the combination of playing European football and losing so many key players in one go is going to make replicating it almost impossible.

Still, there’s no better way to help them out than to return their starting central defender to them. Sarr looks to have great potential and we look forward to seeing him develop even more with another year in Ligue 1.