It’s that time of year where those exit-linked players have their every action, their every movement, analysed to the Nth degree.
Does his head drop when he misses a chance? Is he pressing as ferociously as usual? Did his celebrations seem strangely muted? Did his applause, at full time, look suspiciously like a farewell?
Ismaila Sarr’s recent performances have certainly raised more questions than answers, even if Watford’s Senegal international has attempted to distance himself from speculation suggesting that a summer departure is already done and dusted.
An assist in last week’s heart-breaking, last-gasp defeat to Brentford was very much an exception to the recent rule.
And it’s telling that, during The Hornets’ 5-1 hammering at the hands of a Gabriel Jesus-inspired Manchester City side, it was Sarr – rather than any of Roy Hodgson’s error-ridden defenders – who was given the lowest match rating by Watford-based publication Hertfordshire Mercury.
Not for the first time either.
‘Essentially anonymous’
“Picked up an early knock which might explain why he didn’t track back for the opening goal,” they write.
“It also might explain why he was essentially anonymous for the whole game. The sort of display that will have fans thinking his head has already turned toward a summer move. 2/10.”
Regardless of whether or not Sarr is already thinking about life away from Vicarage Road, more ‘anonymous, 2/10’ performances like this do not exactly stand him in good stead if he wishes to attract the attention of potential suitors like Liverpool or Newcastle United (CM).
Especially when you consider that Newcastle are also considering the likes of Leandro Trossard and Moussa Diaby. Two players who, on current form, Sarr cannot hold a candle to.
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Liverpool have been keeping close tabs on the former Rennes speedster since his iconic brace against Jurgen Klopp’s side two years ago. But his second Premier League campaign has been nowhere near as impressive as his first, performances like that one back in February 2020 – when the word ‘COVID’ meant nothing to nobody – have been few and far between.
Relegation, for Watford, now feels like a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’. A big-money move for Sarr, however, feels like a case of ‘if’ and not ‘when’.
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