Chelsea have allowed Malang Sarr to call time on his stint in west London despite having a year left on his deal as Lens look to bring in the outcasted defender

The centre-half moved to the Blues back in the summer of 2020 from Nice and was tipped for big things. Sarr had loan spells away but it became increasingly clear his future at Stamford Bridge was bleak and he was cast aside by previous manager Mauricio Pochettino.

New boss Enzo Maresca doesn't have Sarr in his plans and Chelsea have opted to terminate his deal early, freeing him up to move back to his homeland, according to L'Equipe. The out of favour defender had been earning PS100,00-a-week - more than leading light Cole Palmer.

Sarr hasn't played for the club since May 2022 and a proposed move to Le Havre fell through at the start of the year. The Frenchman has only played 21 times since moving to west London four years ago with loan spells away unable to aid his ambitions of more game time.

They said: "I have never seen him as low as this. This is the first time I have seen him like this. He tries to change his mental state. But it is hard when you are not playing. He is not in the first-team dressing room anymore, he is with the kids in the other building. He feels outside the group. He tries to hide his feelings, but I know him, what he is really feeling."

Le Harve director was scathing about the manner in which the Blues had treated their player before curtailing his move away. Mathieu Bodmer said: "What Chelsea did to Malang Sarr was disgraceful. With just a few details still to be worked out, they did a U-turn. They gave the youngster the go-ahead to travel."

The defender was forced to train with the U21s at points ( Image:

Omari Hutchinson, Ian Maatsen and Lewis Hall have all left - raising more than PS70million as the club attempt to fend off the threat of PSR rules haunting them. Renato Veiga is their only other major signing this summer, joining from Basel.