Malang Sarr nightmare symbolises next Chelsea owner's biggest challenge after Arsenal defeat

During large periods of Wednesday night's clash with Arsenal, it felt hard not to, in some way, sympathise with Malang Sarr. After Andreas Christensen's short back-pass had handed Eddie Nketiah the opening goal on a plate, the lack of confidence within Chelsea's defence only grew.

Every touch of the ball for Sarr felt more challenging. Every decision seemed to take an extra second longer to be made, likely because of doubt. Unable to sort his feet out for Nketiah's second to make the game 3-2 couldn't have placed a better exclamation mark on this horrendous night.

Sarr, in the broader context, has been a player viewed in a mostly positive light this season. Used sporadically as either a centre-back or, during more stretched periods, a conventional left-back. Thomas Tuchel has used Sarr in interesting ways and tried to make use of a player who seemed destined for a loan last summer.

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Given a horrid time by a confident Bukayo Saka and looking vulnerable any time a ball was kicked in his general direction, even at the age of 23, this performance will be hard to recover from quickly.

But there is little more to examine about Sarr's performance. Little went right and in addition to that, this is a player who will likely finish the season with under 10 Premier League appearances, under 2000 minutes in all competitions. Sarr's place as a fringe figure in Tuchel's plans has never changed, and to the club, his 2020 signing on a free from Nice always felt like a low-risk deal. One that could either gain the first-team squad a bonus or attract a fee in the market.

After Wednesday, the future for the French defender looks more like the