It has been a few days since Tottenham’s 2-0 win at Manchester City. We do have a surprisingly good record in this fixture, but it was still a surprise to see such a comfortable win, particularly given the investment levels of the two teams in 2025. It has been a frustrating summer so far for Tottenham, and while there is still hope that changes before the end of the window, our start to the season has been impressive. In particular, Pape Matar Sarr has stepped up his performances several levels.
Signed from Metz in 2021, Sarr was immediately loaned back for the whole of the 2021-22 season. Those are the kind of transfers that are often greeted at the time with a bit of a shrug. It’s good that we have signed a promising young player, but the season has just started, and we won’t see him until next season, so it will be forgotten for a while.
Sarr’s transfer is looking increasingly like one of those where the initial slightly longer wait is paying off. After a few appearances in his first season, Sarr has played consistently for the previous 2 years. He was a mainstay in our league and Europa cup games last season, culminating in an excellent performance in the final and an assist for the only goal of the game. That final against Man United was not won due to attacking dominance but by organized defending and a very solid midfield.
The performance on Saturday vs. Man City was similar but a vastly improved version. Although it is always true that the only stat that matters is the final score, it is also worth pointing out that while City had more possession, we had more shots on goal and more on target. Also, very few of City’s chances really felt threatening. There were many good performances that provided the reason for that, but Sarr stood out.
A big key to Tottenham's press
He put in the classic “covered every blade of grass” performance, but more than that his tackling and positioning were outstanding. Whether it was being in a position to receive the ball to dribble out of our half or putting himself in a position to stop an opposition attack, Sarr was consistently in the right place. Our pressing as a team has been great so far under Thomas Frank, too, and Sarr typified that as well, constantly putting pressure on City’s players. Our hosts had lots of possession, lots of passes, but very little opportunity to hurt us.
We saw a noticeable progression in Sarr’s play in pre-season, adding goals to his game as well. His pre-season goal vs. Arsenal is good to mention here, not only because it’s always welcome to bring up goals and wins vs. Arsenal but also because it came about from Sarr’s running, positioning, and pressing (all followed up of course by an excellent finish).
Sarr is still young and should develop further, but with the number of games he has played for Tottenham and Senegal, he does have a fair amount of experience already. Last year he extended his contract with us until 2030, showing the club believe in his ability, too. The dominant box-to-box midfielder has generally not been as much in recent years for any team (due to the popularity of attempting possession-based football), but Sarr has the potential to be that force for us. While Tottenham lately don’t often sign ready-established stars, we have seen them develop with us. It looks like Pape Matar Sarr will do just that.