Malang Sarr

Malang Sarr (born 23 January 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 side Nice and the France U21 side. An academy graduate of Nice, he scored on his senior debut in 2016 and has since made over 100 appearances for the club.

Malang Sarr
Sarr playing for Nice in 2018
Personal information
Full name Malang Sarr
Date of birth (1999-01-23) 23 January 1999
Place of birth Nice, France[1]
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Nice
Number 23
Youth career
2005–2016 Nice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Nice II 13 (0)
2016– Nice 102 (3)
National team‡
2014–2015 France U16 9 (1)
2015–2016 France U17 11 (0)
2016–2017 France U18 4 (0)
2017–2018 France U19 10 (0)
2018 France U20 2 (0)
2017– France U21 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:49, 8 April 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 June 2019

Club career

Nice

Born in Nice, Sarr joined local side OGC Nice at the age of six.[2] He spent the next 12 years in the club's academy before making his Ligue 1 debut for the club on 14 August 2016 against Rennes, aged 17. He scored the winning goal for his team in the 60th minute, heading home from a Jean-Michaël Seri free-kick.[3] In doing so, he became the second youngest player to ever score on debut in Ligue 1, behind Nigerian international Bartholomew Ogbeche.[4] After the match, Sarr dedicated his goal to the victims of the 2016 Nice terror attack.[3] Prior to kick-off a minute's silence was observed in memory of the victims with both Nice and Rennes wearing unique commemorative shirts bearing the names of those who had died.[5] On 7 November 2016, Sarr signed his first professional contract with Nice and by the end of the season had made over 30 appearances as the club ended the league campaign in third place.[6][7][8]

In February 2018, Sarr was named by the CIES Football Observatory as the world's fifth-most promising footballer under the age of 20.[9] Competing with Maxime Le Marchand and new loan signing Marlon, Sarr saw his game time slightly reduced but still managed to record 29 appearances across all competitions for the campaign.[10]

On 10 August 2019, the opening day of the 2019–20 Ligue 1 campaign, Sarr made his 100th appearance for Nice across all competitions when he started in a 2–1 win over Amiens.[11]

International career

France national youth teams

Sarr has represented France at various youth levels and in September 2016, Sarr was named as the captain of the 20-man France U18 squad by manager Bernard Diomède for the 2016 Limoges Tournament.[12][13] In 2018, he confirmed that he had been approached by the Senegalese Football Association to represent the nation but stated that he had hopes to achieve great things with France.[14]

Personal life

Sarr was born in the neighbourhood of des Moulins in Nice. He is of Senegalese descent through his parents who immigrated to France prior to his birth.[15]

Career statistics

Club
As of 7 March 2020[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup1 League Cup2 Europe Other Total
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nice 2016–17 Ligue 1 27110004[lower-alpha 1]0—321
2017–18 21010106[lower-alpha 2]0—290
2018–19 3511020——381
2019–20 1910010——201
Total 10233040100—1193
Career total 10233040100001193

1 Includes Coupe de France matches.
2 Includes Coupe de la Ligue matches.

  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League and three appearances in UEFA Europa League

References
  1. "Malang Sarr". OGC Nice (in French). Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  2. "Malang Sarr: "Ce but, je le dédie aux victimes"". Nice-Matin (in French). 14 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  3. Rodden, Mark (14 August 2016). "Nice's Malang Sarr dedicates debut goal to victims of terrorist attack". ESPN. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  4. "Nizza, alla scoperta di Malang Sarr: il baby talento "senza nome"". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 14 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  5. "17-year old Sarr sees off Rennes". Ligue 1. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  6. "Official: Malang Sarr signs OGC Nice pro deal". Get Football News France. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  7. "Chelsea vying with Real Madrid and Barcelona to sign Malang Sarr". Sky Sports. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  8. "Chelsea transfer news: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Malang Sarr, Diego Costa". Fox Sports. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  9. Margueritte, Henri (19 February 2018). "Alban Lafont, ce Français qui devance Mbappé au classement des footballeurs les plus prometteurs". Huffington Post (in French). Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  10. "Les joueurs de l'OGC Nice sur le gril: aujourd'hui, Malang Sarr" (in French). Nice-Matin. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  11. "Malang, 100 Appearances Already". 12 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  12. "Leicester City Scouting Nice Defender Malang Sarr in Champions League Qualifiers Ahead of £20m Bid". Sports Illustrated. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  13. "Équipe de France, Alban Lafont et Malang Sarr avec les U18 pour le Tournoi de Limoges". Goal (in French). 28 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  14. Juillard, Patrick (23 October 2018). "Senegal: Alio Cisse a deja contacte Malang Sarr" (in French). Foot 365. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  15. Aguilar, Francesc (24 October 2016). "Malang Sarr, el espectacular 'baby' central del Niza". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  16. "M. Sarr". Retrieved 1 September 2016.
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