Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has revealed that he will make a decision on Pape Matar Sarr’s future for the campaign ahead after assessing him during pre-season.
The youngster made his first Tottenham appearance during the friendly against Team K-League in the Coupang Play Series on Wednesday.
Conte brought Matar Sarr on following half-time, which saw Tottenham see off the challenge by a 6-3 scoreline in a highly contested fixture at the Seoul World Cup Stadum.
The midfielder is yet to make his competitive debut for Antonio Conte’s side after he was immediately loaned back to Metz after Spurs signed him on a permanent deal last summer after the north London club spent a fee in the region of £14.6million excluding add-ons (Sky Sports).
Conte has suggested that he will make the right decision regarding the 19-year-old’s future after making a fair analysis during the build-up to the new campaign.
Speaking at Friday’s pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Sevilla to Football.London, Conte said: “He’s a young player. Good prospect. Will be the future for Tottenham. We have Sarr and other young players and we will try with the club to take the best decision for them.”
“It will be very important to take the best decision about whether to stay at Tottenham or go out on loan and play with regularity.”
Our View
Matar Sarr made 33 appearances for the French side in Ligue 1 last campaign, and he also scored a goal and assisted three times during that period (Transfermarkt). The central midfielder had gained valuable first-team minutes with Metz, although he could not help them to survive the relegation battle as they dropped down to the second division.
While we have signed Yves Bissouma from Brighton and Hove Albion for a fee of more than £30million including bonuses this summer (Sky Sports), Matar Sarr could still find a role in the first team if he earns Conte’s trust. After all, Conte has left out the likes of Harry Winks, Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele from the pre-season squad (Daily Mail).
It’s clear that the midfield trio are no longer in the coach’s plans leaving us with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp and Rodrigo Bentancur alongside Bissouma. While that depth is decent considering how Conte utilises a two-man midfield pairing, it would also be on the safer side to have at least one more midfield to deal with injuries or suspensions, for example.
Hence, Matar Sarr could have a great opportunity at hand right now, but whether he can convince Conte to put his trust in him or not would need to be seen. The match against Sevilla could perhaps give us more insight into what lies in store for the young midfielder with another loan deal potentially beckoning.
