Porto Confirm Signing of Chelsea's Malang Sarr on Season-Long Loan

06 October 2020 19:33

Porto have confirmed the signing of Chelsea defender Malang Sarr on a season-long loan.

Sarr arrived at Stamford Bridge as a free agent this summer after spending the entirety of his senior career at Nice following his breakthrough into the first team in 2016.

The Blues announced after the Frenchman's arrival on a five-year deal at the end of August that he would be spending the 2020/21 campaign out on loan - in typical Chelsea style - with club director Marina Granovskaia saying: "He is a tremendous prospect and we will be monitoring him closely during his loan period, hoping he will soon be back at Chelsea."

The Blues will be monitoring his progress over in Portugal after the club agreed a temporary deal with Porto for Sarr's services, with the Portuguese club confirming the 21-year-old's signing on their official Twitter page.

The versatile Frenchman joined Chelsea off the back of a rather disappointing end to his Nice career as his individual performances stagnated. He was in need of a fresh environment, with his impressive skill set laid bare after he emerged onto the senior scene as a teenager.

Sarr's a fine ball-player capable of delivering dreamy diagonals to the opposite flank with his stronger left foot. However, it'll be interesting to see how Porto deploy the Frenchman after the exit of left-back Alex Telles.

Some have theorised that it's the Portuguese giants' plan to deputise Sarr in place of Telles rather than at centre-back, where the majority of Chelsea fans would love to see him develop due to his raw and unrefined profile.

Nevertheless, the Blues may not yet be done in regards to potential outgoings in the current window.

With the Portuguese transfer deadline not until 25th October, the club are also looking to offload the out of favour Emerson to Porto following Sarr's arrival, a move which may prompt the Dragões to utilise the Frenchman at centre-back this term.

Source: 90min