Bouna Sarr returns to Metz after 818 days out to face Lille | OneFootball

Ten and a half years after leaving in 2015, Bouna Sarr, 34, returns for Metz in Ligue 1 on Friday against Lille at 20:45. He has signed until June after 818 days without playing.

According to L'Équipe, that gap is seven longer than Paul Pogba’s 811-day absence between 3 September 2023 and 22 November 2025, and recalls Samuel Umtiti’s long road back. Sarr’s last outing was Bayern Munich’s 4-2 win over Heidenheim on 11 November 2023.

He pushed his left knee through all seven matches to win the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, then underwent patellar tendon surgery in September 2022 and anterior cruciate ligament surgery in November 2023. After that triumph he played only eight games in two and a half years for Bayern, who signed him on a four-year deal in 2020.

Having left Metz for Marseille in 2015, where he made 181 appearances and scored 8 goals, he has been training with Metz since early November. Free from last summer, he aimed to compete as soon as he rejoined the group, with club chiefs seeking fitness assurances. His registration was eased by Cheikh Sabaly’s move to Vancouver in MLS.

Coach Benoît Tavenot could initially use him on the right of midfield, and also at right-back, a position he often filled during his Marseille years. Sporting director Frédéric Arpinon views him as a potential leader and stresses the signing is about what he adds on the pitch.

Sarr says he endured difficult months, kept faith and now feels fully recovered, physically and mentally. He likens the comeback to hitting reset and believes he can string together some good years. For Metz, a hard-earned survival would offer a timely lift.

Source: L'Équipe