Ismaila Sarr’s agent releases angry statement after unsuccessful Liverpool pursuit

The agent of Ismaila Sarr has released an angry statement after Liverpool unsuccessfully tried to sign the Crystal Palace winger towards the end of the summer transfer window.

As per Fabrizio Romano, the Reds had an opening offer of £50m for the player rejected by the Selhurst Park outfit, with the 28-year-old ultimately remaining with the Eagles.

Reports from France even claimed that the Senegal forward had refused to train with his club in an apparent attempt to force through a move to Anfield.

Sarr’s agent issues angry statement

Sarr’s agent Diomansy Kamara – who also represents another recent Liverpool transfer target in Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara – has reacted angrily to seeing potential moves for both players vetoed by their respective clubs.

The former Fulham striker raged (via The Express): ‘The cases of Ismaila Sarr and Lamine Camara must all interrogate us. We have to get out of this logic where the African player can sometimes give the feeling that he is just a commodity: you buy it, you set its price, you negotiate its future and, too often, your will seems to go to the background.

‘Our African players deserve respect. The respect of their work. The respect of their career. Respecting their ambitions. The respect of their voices.

‘A transfer shouldn’t just be a matter of two clubs and numbers. Behind every contract, there’s a man, a career, dreams and life choices. The fact that clubs can sometimes have the final word is a reality of professional football. But one question remains: what about the career and the will of the player?

‘The player must be able to be heard and respected in the decisions that determine his future. Let’s never forget what’s important: behind every success, it’s the players who write history first.’

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Liverpool should be alright without Sarr

We can understand why Kamara is frustrated that neither Sarr nor Camara got their potential transfers to Liverpool and Chelsea respectively, with the agent naturally looking out for the best interests of his clients.

However, it’s their clubs who ultimately hold sway in deciding whether or not to sell players contracted to them, and that’s something which should remain the case in an era where elite footballers are frequently accused of having too much power and bending other stakeholders to their will.

If every player who wanted a transfer were automatically granted their wish, the market would become a chaotic free-for-all whereby some clubs would have dozens of players and others mightn’t even be able to field a starting XI.

From a Liverpool perspective, the unsuccessful pursuit of Sarr hasn’t been too costly as we managed to keep hold of Cody Gakpo, who only a few days ago seemed destined to join Manchester City.

The Senegal winger will need to park the disappointment of not getting the transfer he craved and focus on delivering for Palace – we just hope he doesn’t do so when the Reds visit Selhurst Park in early November. He’s already inflicted enough damage on LFC over the years!