Mamadou Sarr #2

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Calm and elegant on the ball, Sarr is the next big thing in the Senegal defence. In choosing to represent Senegal over his native France, the 20-year-old is following in the footsteps of his father, the former Senegal centre-back Pape Sarr who played at the 2002 World Cup. A product of the Lyon academy, Mamadou earned himself a reputation at Strasbourg before joining fellow BlueCo-owned club Chelsea, where he continued to work under his former manager Liam Rosenior. Seen by many as the successor to Kalidou Koulibaly at international level, Sarr deputised for the injured and suspended captain by playing the full 120 minutes of January’s Afcon final against Morocco, just a couple of months after his first senior cap. “Knowing I can play at Afcon makes me think I can play in the Premier League,” the defender said.

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