Malang Sarr reportedly accosted in Marbella after agent-free move to Neom | OneFootball

Malang Sarr was reportedly accosted by intruders at Neom’s Marbella base this summer after signing a lucrative contract without an agent, as he prepared for his first international window with Senegal.

According to L’Équipe, the Tabuk-based side, whose squad includes former Lyon players Alexandre Lacazette and Saïd Benrahma, were dining at the Elba Estepona Gran Hotel & Thalasso Spa in late July when several men entered a private area, confronted the new signing and told a witness not to move.

Two intruders allegedly lifted Sarr from his chair and forced him to follow them, even slapping him on the stairs to the bar. The player denies that account, though hotel guests were said to have corroborated it and understood a financial dispute was at stake.

After an excellent season with Lens, the 27-year-old centre-back, born and developed in Nice, was a free agent courted by clubs and intermediaries. Four agents were circling, but he signed alone with Neom on a three-year deal worth four million euros net per year, plus a three million euros signing-on bonus.

The confrontation was reportedly commissioned by a former adviser aggrieved at missing commission and irritated by photos of Sarr posing with a club-mandated agent. Spanish police were alerted and the hotel placed under video surveillance, and the intruders left quickly.

Relations between Sarr and the sidelined agent have since eased, and the defender chose not to file a complaint. The episode highlights how money-driven tensions around players can spill into security concerns.

Source: Le Progres

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”