FC Metz president Bernard Serin has admitted that he was keen to ensure Pape Matar Sarr would be loaned back to the club while negotiating the midfielder’s sale to Tottenham.
Sarr was arguably the most low-profile of the five players Tottenham brought through the door in the summer transfer window.
The 19-year-old won many admirers after breaking into the Metz first-team midway through last season, with Spurs paying £14.6m for the midfielder’s services and loaning him back to the Ligue 1 club for the season.
In his interview with Spurs TV last month, Fabio Paratici waxed lyrical about Sarr, insisting that many big clubs around Europe wanted to snap up the youngster.
The midfielder has been in fine form for Metz this campaign, having started every single league game for the club so far.
Serin has now admitted that he wanted to ensure the Senegal international was loaned back to Metz as he wanted him to play in front of the fans at the Stade Saint-Symphorien.
He told Graoully Mag on Moselle TV (as relayed by Sport Witness): “The cherry on top is that we can keep him for an extra year with us.
“I was very attached to that idea because, in the end, with the matches being played in empty stadiums last year, the fans hadn’t seen him.
“Therefore, the fact of transferring him without the fans being given a chance to see him, that hurt me, and so I insisted to have him for a year and I’m very satisfied that we have him for 2021-22 season”.
The Metz president also insisted that the club can be happy with the fee they got for Sarr, considering his lack of experience at the top level.
He added: “Obviously, we always wish to get more, but he’s still a kid who has played very few games in Ligue 1, who turned 18 on September 14th 2020, and we’re talking about a transfer when he’s not even 19.
“So, in the end, when I look at the transfer fee plus the bonuses that we can get when he plays for Spurs, I think we can be satisfied.”
Spurs Web Opinion
There is always an element of gamble with signing starlets like Sarr as one can never be sure how they will develop and whether they would settle into English football.
However, one of the main reasons we have brought in Paratici is to identify talents like the 19-year-old and take smart gambles. Only time will tell if it will work.
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