Malang Sarr has confirmed his departure from Nice with the reported Everton and Newcastle United target now a free agent, speaking in a statement via the club’s official Twitter account.
While Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees have come unstuck time and again due to their lack of defensive cover this season, the same cannot be said of Steve Bruce’s Magpies.
Having failed to replace Kurt Zouma last summer, Everton have just three senior centre-halves at their disposal.
That is about half the total enjoyed by a Newcastle side who can choose between Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark, Federico Fernandez, Fabian Schar, Paul Dummett and Florian Lejeune.
A treasure trove of defensive talent has not stopped the north east giants from expressing an interest in Sarr, however.
Le10 Sport reported in April that both Everton and Newcastle are keen on a 21-year-old who has been a regular in Nice’s starting XI since as far back as 2016.
And while Sarr has nothing but adoration for his hometown club, the France U21 international’s decision to depart appears to have been driven by his head rather than his heart.
“I will remain an OGC Nice player for life, that’s how it is,” Sarr says. “I started here, I experienced everything here, it’s the club of my city, it’s my the club of my heart.
“It will stay with me forever.
“It’s a chapter that is closing. I have another to open. I can’t wait to see what is in store for me.”
A move across the Channel might just be the ‘next chapter’, with Sarr’s free-agent status likely to pique the interest of more than just two Premier League clubs.
But, as former Nice coach Alain Watlehet told Europa Calcio last month, Sarr’s lack of pace could pose problems for him in England.
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