Tottenham Hotspur insider John Wenham has ripped into Fabio Paratici signing Pape Matar Sarr after a disappointing season in Ligue 1, tipping his next loan move to be a demotion down to the second tier.
The Lowdown: Sarr’s season
After signing for Spurs in the summer, the 19-year-old was immediately loaned back to French outfit Metz for the upcoming season.
However, it appears that this loan move has been unsuccessful, suggested by the 6.56 rating awarded by WhoScored for his 32 league appearances to date. Disappointingly, this ranks the midfielder 13th out of the entire Metz squad for the 2021/22 campaign.
Indeed, his development has stalled after a fine campaign last term and his temporary move is starting to look like a bad decision from the club.
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The Latest: Wenham’s claim
Due to a disappointing season in France, Wenham thinks it’s a good idea for Sarr to drop down to a loan in the Championship.
Speaking with Football Insider, he claimed: “I’ll be totally honest, I have been underwhelmed.
“Don’t get me wrong, I think he is playing in a poor Metz side but his stats still aren’t particularly impressive.
“He seems to have played a variety of positions. Holding midfield and out wide as well.
“I have never seen much from him, you don’t hear much about him.
“There were some scouting geeks citing some literature last summer who insisted we had pulled off a coup.
“I personally haven’t seen any evidence of that yet. We will have to take a look at him in the summer.
“I actually wouldn’t be against loaning him to a Championship side to see how he does there.
“it would be good to give him a taste of that English football culture.
“He arrived on a big contract as well so he time to develop but I think he is a long way off challenging for the first team.”
The Verdict: Another loan is the right move
Whilst the standard of the Championship is obviously lower than that of the French top-flight, a loan move for Sarr would allow him to gain first-hand experience of English football.
This would help acclimatise the 19-year-old to the difference in physicality, speed and culture, and hopefully prepare him for eventual the step up to the Premier League.
However, if a step down from one of Europe's elite leagues to the second tier in England is unsuccessful, one has to begin to wonder if the youngster has what it takes to succeed at the level Tottenham want to be operating at.
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