Como’s Chase for Mamadou Sarr Reveals Chelsea’s Real Cost

Como have intensified direct contact to sign Chelsea centre back Mamadou Sarr, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, chasing a 20-year-old who has played six games all season. He is not their first choice either. The defender everyone is talking about this week is not the one taking the biggest hit from Chelsea’s handling of him.

That would be Strasbourg, the French club that shares an ownership group with Chelsea and lost its first-choice centre back in the middle of a European push, only to watch him barely play for his parent club anyway.

Como Circles a Third Chelsea Centre Back

Como only got here because their first idea did not work. Cesc Fabregas’s side wanted Trevoh Chalobah first, then gave brief thought to Tosin Adarabioyo. Neither is walking through the door at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.

Chalobah looks bound for Inter Milan instead, and Chelsea are expected to keep Tosin given how thin their central defense already runs. That left Sarr, a player Como have been monitoring quietly for weeks before Gazzetta dello Sport reported the contact turning direct and serious.

Chelsea signed him from Strasbourg in a deal that also made 28 appearances in Strasbourg’s Conference League push a selling point at the time. He arrived with size, a passing range and a long contract. None of that has translated into Chelsea minutes.

Como might turn to Mamadou Sarr, a defender who is very much liked by the Larian club.

That line traces back to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, who flagged the interest weeks before Gazzetta dello Sport’s update turned it into direct talks. Como, nicknamed i lariani after Lake Como, are shopping in a market well above their old Serie B level this summer.

The Sister Club That Paid for Chelsea’s Gamble

Sarr and Strasbourg are not strangers to each other. He captained their backline for the first half of last season before Chelsea, needing defensive cover, recalled him in February.

Chelsea’s own club records show he was back on loan at Strasbourg for the season’s first half after initially arriving in west London the previous summer. Strasbourg is not some unconnected selling club. It operates under the same BlueCo ownership umbrella as Chelsea, making this a decision the group made about its own asset, not a normal market transaction between rivals.

Coverage of the recall has been blunt about what followed. Strasbourg lost a key figure at the heart of their backline during the decisive months of their campaign, and the club fell short of qualifying for Europe that season. Chelsea, in turn, gained a player who has barely featured since arriving. Nobody in the deal came out ahead except, perhaps, whichever club signs him next.

Why Has Sarr Struggled for Minutes at Chelsea?

Sarr has made six appearances in all competitions since his February recall, a thin return for a club that recalled him specifically to solve a defensive crisis. He reads the game well on the ground but has looked exposed in the air, a weakness that matters at Premier League level.

His body of work in England is short but instructive. He started the FA Cup fourth round win over Hull City and looked composed, according to a 5.85 average rating across his Premier League minutes logged so far this season, built on just 100 minutes of top-flight football.

His only Premier League start came in a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal. He endured a rough opening spell, including a deflection off him that led to Arsenal’s opener, before growing into the game and finishing with one tackle, one interception, five clearances and a block. Then came the Champions League. A costly error in the round of 16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain in March effectively ended his run, and he has played just nine minutes for Chelsea since.

He is 194 centimetres tall, among the biggest frames in Chelsea’s back line, which makes the aerial concerns more pointed rather than less. He did travel with Senegal to this summer’s World Cup, reportedly named in the squad without ever being used before their exit, an odd footnote for a defender Chelsea insist they still rate.

Chalobah, Tosin and Now Sarr

Sarr is the third Chelsea centre back Como have looked at this summer, and laying the three side by side shows how crowded that position has become at Stamford Bridge.

Three separate chases at the same club, inside the same window, for the same position. That is not coincidence. It is what happens when a squad stockpiles central defenders faster than a manager can develop or trust them.

Why Would Sarr Want to Join Como?

Como offer something Chelsea currently do not: a settled manager who wants him and a route to regular Champions League football. Fabregas secured a surprise qualification for next season’s competition, turning a club that was in Serie B a few years ago into a genuine destination for players squeezed out at bigger clubs.

• Champions League football – Como qualified for next season’s competition after finishing among Serie A’s European places.
• A manager who rates him – Fabregas pushed to sign Sarr once his first two defensive targets fell through.
• A clearer route to minutes – Como need central defenders now, rather than treating him as fourth or fifth choice.

None of that guarantees Sarr becomes a regular starter in Italy. But it is a more direct path than fighting Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile and Chalobah for a shirt at Stamford Bridge.

Alonso Still Hasn’t Made the Call

Chelsea have not decided anything, and that is arguably the most telling part of this story. Manager Xabi Alonso wants to assess Sarr in pre-season training before ruling on his future, a stance that has left the defender in limbo through an entire transfer window’s worth of speculation.

Sarr signed a long-term contract when he arrived, and Chelsea have shown no urgency to force a permanent sale. RB Leipzig were also credited with interest in him earlier this summer, giving Chelsea more than one suitor to weigh if Alonso decides a loan or exit makes sense. For now, the defender trains with a club that recalled him mid-season, barely played him, and still has not told him what comes next.

Como’s timeline is different. Pre-season for Serie A clubs starts soon, and Fabregas wants his defensive options settled before the Champions League league phase draw.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mamadou Sarr leaving Chelsea this summer?

No final decision has been made. Chelsea have not sanctioned a departure, and Xabi Alonso reportedly wants to run the rule over Sarr in pre-season before deciding whether he fits the club’s plans for 2026-27, with Como and Germany’s RB Leipzig both credited with interest.

How much did Chelsea pay for Mamadou Sarr?

Chelsea’s move for Sarr from sister club Strasbourg in mid-2025 was reported to be worth between 14 million and 20 million euros, roughly 15 million to 22 million dollars, according to transfer valuation analysts at TransferFeed.

Did Chelsea sign Sarr directly from Lyon?

No. Sarr first left Lyon for Strasbourg in a reported 10 million euro move before establishing himself in Ligue 1, and Chelsea signed him from Strasbourg a year later once his form had risen his profile.

How long is Sarr’s Chelsea contract and what is he worth?

Sarr signed an eight-year deal that runs until 2033. Transfermarkt currently puts a market value of 22 million euros on him, while FotMob’s own model values him higher, closer to 29 million euros.

What shirt number does Mamadou Sarr wear at Chelsea?

He wears number 19, in a defensive unit that already includes Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah, which explains a lot about why minutes have been so hard to find.