Ismaïla Sarr


Ismaïla Sarr is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a winger for championship club Watford and the Senegal national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Sarr started his football career with Senegalese football club Génération Foot.

Metz

On 13 July 2016, Sarr signed his first professional contract with FC Metz for five years. He made his league debut on 13 August 2016 against Lille OSC at Stade Saint-Symphorien, the FC Metz's home ground, which Metz won by 3–2. In this match, he played 20 minutes, after he was substituted for Florent Mollet.

Stade Rennais

On 26 July 2017, Sarr signed a four-year contract with Ligue 1 side Rennes. The transfer fee paid to Metz was reported as €17 or 20 million, depending on the source. He picked the transfer to Rennes over a move to FC Barcelona.
On 13 December 2018, Sarr scored twice in the second half, as Rennes clinched their place in the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League knockout phase with a 2–0 home win over FC Astana.

Watford

On 8 August 2019, Sarr joined Premier League club Watford on a five-year contract. The transfer fee paid to Rennes was a club record for Watford and reported as "in the region of £30 million. He scored his first goal for Watford in an EFL Cup tie against Coventry City on 27 August 2019.
On 29 February 2020, Sarr picked up two goals and an assist in Watford's 3–0 victory over Liverpool, handing Liverpool its first defeat of the 2019–20 season and ending the club's 27-match unbeaten run.

International career

Sarr has represented his country at Senegal national under-23 football team. In 2015, he played in 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. At that time, his age was only 17. He contributed that Senegal finished the competition in a fourth place, playing three games.
He played for the first time with Senegal national football team for a match against Namibia in September 2016 in Dakar for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, for which Senegal is already qualified. As a symbol, it comes into play in the 67th minute in place of the former resident of Génération Foot and Metz, Sadio Mané. On 8 January 2017, Sarr scored his first international goal in a friendly match against Libya national football team in Stade Municipal de Kintélé, Brazzaville.
In May 2018, he was named in Senegal's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
In 2019, Sarr was part of the Senegal squad that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, for only the second time in the nation's history. He played the full 90 minutes of the final on 19 July 2019, as they lost 0–1 to Algeria.
In November 2019 he suffered an ankle injury whilst on international duty.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.8 January 2017Stade Municipal de Kintélé, Brazzaville, Congo2–12–1Friendly
2.5 September 2017Stade du 4 Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso1–12–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.8 June 2018Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek, Croatia1–01–2Friendly
4.1 July 201930 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt1–03–02019 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Club

Rennes