Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino, Malang Sarr
John McDougall
Forgotten former Chelsea defender Malang Sarr has hit out at former boss Mauricio Pochettino after he was snubbed by him during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Pochettino spent last season at Chelsea and managed the club for only one campaign, leading the London club to sixth in the Premier League and qualification for European football.
However, he departed the club by mutual consent and was replaced over the summer by current incumbent in the Stamford Bridge dugout by Enzo Maresca.
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The former Tottenham Hotspur boss was out of work over the summer, before he took over as the new head coach of the United States men's national team.
One infamous moment during Pochettino's only campaign at Stamford Bridge came when he forgot about defender Sarr being at the club after being taken by surprise during a pre-match press conference ahead of a game against Luton Town.
He said: "Who?! Oh my goodness, I don’t know what I can tell you.
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"I don’t know because you surprised me! It’s like you punch and I am like this [shocked] because we were talking about Luton!"
Sarr joined Chelsea in August 2020 from French side Nice, putting pen to paper on a five-year contract.
However, Sarr made only 21 appearances at Chelsea during the following seasons, spending much of his time away from the club on loan at Porto and Monaco.
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Sarr's Chelsea deal was cancelled by mutual consent a year earlier than it was due to expire, which allowed him to move to Lens for free, penning a two-year contract with the option of a 12-month extension.
And Sarr has now spoken about that moment Pochettino forgot him, as well as the subsequent decision for him to train with the club's under-21s and not play under the Argentine.
He admits he did not take the decision well and that Pochettino had wanted to sign him when he was at Spurs, so did know who he was, but that he has 'no regrets' about his time in England despite the snub.
Speaking to French outlet L'Equipe, as per the Metro, Sarr said: "I took it badly. It shouldn’t have happened.
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"He knew me. He even tried to sign me at Tottenham. I didn’t ask for an explanation.
"Was I a victim of the football business? That’s a big word but yes, I paid the price.
"If this exclusion had been linked to my performances, or to the fact that I wasn’t a good person, I would have had to work on myself.
"But I experienced all that in spite of myself."