While Mamadou Sarr is being closely monitored by Chelsea, the English club are set to send a centre-back to RC Strasbourg. Which is clearly paving the way for the 20-year-old defender's move.
Linked by their common owner, BlueCo, the Blues and Racing do not hold the same status in the eyes of the entity. While Chelsea are quite logically considered a premium club, Strasbourg, for their part, appear as a vassal of the Blues and must regularly send them their raw materials, sometimes mid-season – head coach Liam Rosenior, for example.
Chelsea's latest idea was to bring back Mamadou Sarr as early as this winter, with the 20-year-old, on loan from the Blues, being a regular starter and often captain of the Alsatian side this season with 17 appearances in all competitions. But Chelsea's plan initially fell through, as Aaron Anselmino did not wish to join Strasbourg. At least, until now.
Anselmino arrives at Strasbourg, Sarr heads to Chelsea
On loan at Dortmund for the first half of the season, the 20-year-old Argentine returned to the Blues, much to the dismay of the Bundesliga's second-placed side. All with the aim of sending him to Strasbourg in exchange for Mamadou Sarr.
The former Boca Juniors player, initially reluctant, first said no. However, according to the latest information shared on X by Fabrizio Romano, the centre-back has now changed his mind. The journalist has announced Aaron Anselmino's loan to the Ligue 1 seventh-placed side until the end of the season.
Strasbourg will therefore receive a player who has made just 10 appearances this season with Borussia Dortmund due to multiple injuries – muscular and hamstring problems. Mamadou Sarr, meanwhile, will join Chelsea, according to information shared on X by Fabrice Hawkins (RMC).
The player is expected in England on “Monday,” with the Senegalese international facing PSG on Sunday evening in Ligue 1 (8:45pm).
Strasbourg: BlueCo and Chelsea's plaything for how much longer?
It is really not certain – at all – that RC Strasbourg come out as winners from such a deal, letting a key starter leave for a defender hampered by injuries throughout the first half of the season. A player who shed a few tears when saying goodbye to his Dortmund teammates recently and who, initially, did not want to join the Ligue 1 side.
Such an operation at Racing's expense is likely to provoke further anger among Strasbourg supporters. Rightly so, in our opinion. How can an important club in France, still competing in the Europa Conference League, accept such deference towards Chelsea by agreeing to deals that undoubtedly weaken them? The well-known expression is that money has no smell. But Strasbourg fans certainly feel the pain – and what about the club's hierarchy?
