Banished star ‘undoubtedly’ leaving Chelsea, with two Prem suitors all ears after shock free-transfer decision

Chelsea are ready to sever their ties with Malang Sarr by offloading the defender before the transfer window closes – and his destination could be one of two Premier League clubs.

That’s according to Foot Mercato, which claims Nottingham Forest and Fulham are both ‘pushing’ to sign Sarr. Fortunately for them, Chelsea have decided they are willing to expel him on a free transfer, despite there still being two years remaining on his contract at Stamford Bridge.

Sarr is completely out of the picture under Mauricio Pochettino after spending last season on loan at Monaco. Recently, it was claimed he could follow Romelu Lukaku to Roma.

The latest from Foot Mercato does not mention that option, but implies there are other suitors beyond just Fulham and Nottingham Forest queuing up for the 24-year-old.

Fulham’s links are interesting, since they are planning ahead to sign a replacement for Tosin Adarabioyo, who is coincidentally being targeted by Monaco to help fill the space left by Sarr and new Chelsea signing, Axel Disasi.

Forest, meanwhile, recently acquired Andrey Santos from Chelsea on loan, so could look to do business with the Blues again.

Whether Sarr has a preference for his next destination remains to be seen. But it seems pretty clear that his time at Chelsea is up after just 21 appearances since his arrival from Nice in 2020.

Neither a loan spell with Porto nor his time at Monaco helped him make a case for more opportunities at his parent club. Having picked him up on a free transfer in the first place, they are now ready to let go of him on the same terms.

Ahead of him in the pecking order at centre-back for Chelsea are Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Thiago Silva, Bashir Humphreys and the injured Wesley Fofana.

There is also Trevoh Chalobah, but he has also been linked with an exit from Chelsea before the transfer window closes.

The Blues have been busy trying to clear space in their squad after having an unmanageable group last season. They have been big spenders in every transfer window of the Todd Boehly era, but cannot afford to overlook outgoing deals as well.

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