Back from the Dead
For many people, Bouna Sarr fell off the face of the earth when he signed – somewhat incredulously – for Bayern Munich five years ago. So, what happened to the former Marseille star in Bavaria?
I’m not sure what it says about the workings of my football mind but in a season when the triumphs and tribulations of RC Lens, Esteban Lepaul and OGC Nice grabbed the headlines in Ligue 1, it was the reappearance of a forgotten league stalwart that stood out as a personal highlight. Clubless for over a season and a half, 33-year-old Bouna Sarr returned home to boyhood club FC Metz last August and went on to make 12 appearances in Les Grenats’ vain struggle against relegation.
For some, the last sighting of the Senegal wideman would have been with Bayern Munich, although you may have blinked and missed that given how fleeting his appearances in Bavaria actually were. For most, and certainly for me, a firm admirer, he is remembered most for his stirring contributions in the white and sky blue of Olympique Marseille. For four seasons, Sarr provided a dependable, consistent presence on the right flank – transitioning from an attacking winger to a buccaneering fullback. During a typically turbulent period for Les Phocaeans, Sarr was a classy constant, clocking up an impressive 138 appearances under different five managers (including caretakers).
Despite not winning any silverware in Provence (although he was a UEFA Europa League runner up in 2017-18), there were plenty of personal highlights – the most memorable perhaps being his fabulous wonder goal against Strasbourg in the Coupe de France in 2020 when he dribbled past four opponents before curling the ball past Bingourou Kamara.
Sarr’s performances also caught the eye of Hansi Flick during a preseason friendly in 2019. Not that Sarr recognised Bayern’s head coach at the time, later admitting that he gave Flick the cold shoulder after he’d congratulated the Senegalese for his performance during the game. Fortunately, this didn’t put Flick off and Sarr was recruited for €8 million in the autumn of the following year.
Experienced and relatively inexpensive, Sarr was seen as the perfect cover for Benjamin Pavard at right-back. However, despite a promising debut when he provided two assists for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 3-0 win over 1. FC Düren, Sarr would only feature 14 more times that season; and that is when the Senegalese’s vanishing began.
Across the four seasons spent with Die Roten, Sarr made just 33 appearances across all competitions. His time at the Allianz Arena was, in fairness, plagued by constant injuries, with a severe ACL tear suffered in November 2023 at Heidenheim sidelining him for the rest of his final year in Germany.
And so, it was a bolt from the blue when, some two years and 102 days since that fateful Heidenheim game, when Sarr made his comeback to football with Les Grenats against PSG. Two dozen appearances wasn’t a bad return for a player who had come back from the dead: but Sarr’s resurrection also served as an important reminder of a good player, a very good player.
Whether we’ll see him again next season hasn’t been confirmed yet but at least now he will be remembered and that only seems right.