Malang Sarr has agreed terms with Lens after Chelsea released him with a year left on his contract.
After the mutual termination of his Chelsea deal, Sarr will not receive a pay-off for the final year of his wages. His arrival at Lens is expected to be confirmed soon.
After joining Chelsea from Nice four years ago, Sarr spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan at Porto, playing 19 first-team matches, but returned to Chelsea for the following season — making 21 appearances across all competitions.
The defender made 22 appearances on a season-long loan spell at Monaco in 2022-23 and spent last season at Chelsea, but did not feature throughout the season under Mauricio Pochettino.
Sarr began his career at Nice, where he debuted as a 17-year-old and made 119 first-team appearances before joining Chelsea as a free agent.
The 25-year-old represented France up to Under-21 level but is also eligible to play for Senegal.
Five players have already left Stamford Bridge this summer with Ian Maatsen (Aston Villa), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United) and Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town) all sold, while Thiago Silva and Hakim Ziyech joined Fluminense and Galatasaray respectively on free transfers.
The club have signed defender Tosin Adarabioyo as a free agent from Fulham, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Omari Kellyman, Caleb Wiley, Renato Veiga and Marc Guiu have also been brought in.
GO DEEPER
The curious case of Malang Sarr, Chelsea’s forgotten man
(Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
