‘He made me want to smash everything’ – former Chelsea star blasts Pochettino

Former Chelsea defender Malang Sarr has claimed he wanted to “smash everything” after being publicly insulted by manager Mauricio Pochettino while at Stamford Bridge.

Sarr was signed by Chelsea in 2020 on a free transfer from Nice and only left the club in 2024.

The 27-year-old Frenchman was unable to make an impact at Stamford Bridge. Over his time with the Premier League giants, he made only 21 appearances and spent time away on loan at Porto and Monaco.

What did Pochettino say about Sarr?

Perhaps the most notable contribution that Sarr made at Chelsea was being the butt of a joke made by Pochettino, who is set to lead the USMNT into the 2026 World Cup, during a press conference.

When asked about the centre-back, he simply replied in a confused state: “Who?”

It was a moment that angered Sarr, although he claims that he no longer feels the same emotion towards the Argentine as he did at the time.

Sarr responds to Pochettino

Sarr has now given his side of the story – and it does not reflect well on the former Chelsea manager.

“In 2019, Pochettino brought my agent to London to convince me to sign for Tottenham,” Sarr told Kampo on YouTube.

“No, I’ll go even further. When I came back from my loan at Monaco, I was in rehab all summer at Chelsea – it was just me and the physios – he signed me, gave me a tour of the club, and came to see me.

“He called his assistant, said: ‘Look who’s here, we tried to bring him to Tottenham, now we find ourselves working together here.’

“He gave me a hug and said: ‘Oh, you’re already on the mat, it’s been a week since your operation, did it go well?’ There’s no way he didn’t know me!”

Sarr added: “I wanted to smash everything when he said that. He did it on purpose.

“Of course I was angry with Pochettino, but I’m not angry at him anymore.”

Sarr reflects on ‘Chelsea banishment’

This was not the first time that Sarr had spoken out on being exiled at Chelsea.

Speaking to L’Equipe in November, he said: “A victim of football business is a strong term but I’ve paid for it. If this banishment [at Chelsea] was linked to my performance or because I wasn’t a good person, I should have worked on myself but I experienced all of that despite myself.

“I took it badly. It shouldn’t have happened. He knew me. He even tried to sign me at Spurs. I didn’t ask for an explanation.”

Sarr left Chelsea on a free transfer to move back to Ligue 1, where he is playing for Lens and enjoying arguably the best football of his career.

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