Liam Rosenior sends message to Chelsea board after agreeing to his transfer request
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Liam Rosenior has thanked the Chelsea hierarchy for agreeing to recall Mamadou Sarr, whom he believes has "the potential to be world class", which could prove crucial this season.
There were quite a few exits at Chelsea in January, but Sarr is the only addition to the first-team squad.
This is a sensible move, given Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo's injuries and Wesley Fofana's load management.
Additionally, Rosenior seems to have made it clear that it was his idea, and he is grateful that the club hierarchy were on board.
"Everyone knows what I think about Mamadou, I think he’s got the potential to be a world-class centre-back," Rosenior said in his press conference on Thursday.
"I’m delighted he’s here and thank the sporting directors and ownership for supporting what I thought was the right decision for us and for him in his career.
"I see a growth in Mamadou, even his performance in the AFCON final. I see a growth in his physicality, I see a growth in his tactical understanding.
"Also, it was an area of the pitch I felt we could strengthen.
"He will get his opportunity, but he knows he needs to fight for it because we have got many outstanding centre-backs in our group."
Rosenior is not the first head coach to believe this Chelsea side needed another centre-back, however, since his predecessor Enzo Maresca was very open about this as well.
"I think we need a central defender," the Italian said back in August. "We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think."
Congratulations, Mamadou Sarr! 👏
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Reports suggested that Chelsea tried to sign former Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen in the summer, before the player eventually chose to join Real Madrid.
While at first glance, it seems that the Chelsea board have shown more support for Rosenior than Maresca, this is clearly not the case.
Bear in mind that Sarr joined Chelsea from Strasbourg back in June before re-joining the French club on loan in August.
Maresca had the opportunity to integrate Sarr into his team if he wanted to, but it just did not happen.
Rosenior's request to recall Sarr, on the other hand, is much more attainable than bringing in a new centre-back target, which would have taken more time and been more costly.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.