Sarr's AC Milan showing gives Tottenham fans cause for optimism

Tottenham went into their Champions League meeting with AC Milan on Tuesday without their three most-used central midfielders. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was suspended, while Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma are currently sidelined due to injury. Head coach Antonio Conte resisted the urge to move Eric Dier into midfield to cover the absent trio and instead named a youthful pairing of Oliver Skipp and Pape Sarr. 

Injuries have restricted the former to a handful of appearances, but with the 22-year-old forced to stints on the sidelines, the latter has benefitted to gain a foothold in the Spurs first team. And with Bentancur out for the remainder of the season, and Bissouma ruled out for the foreseeable future, Sarr has a chance to really establish himself in the Spurs midfield. 

The north London side could have been tempted to send him out on loan last summer following his arrival from Metz, where he remained for a season following the announcement of his transfer in 2021. Fortunately for the club, the 20-year-old remained in north London despite ample competition for places ahead of him in the middle of the park. 

Additionally, Conte favours experience over youth, so his route to the first team was always going to be a difficult one. All that changed at the turn of the year, however, with Conte taking a real shine to Sarr as a result of the youngster's application in training. The Senegal international then made his full debut for Spurs in their 1-0 FA Cup win over League One side Portsmouth, where Sarr impressed. 

Only Harry Kane (8.04) earned a better WhoScored rating than Sarr (7.56) in that victory as the latter excelled out of possession, making five tackles, and was tidy on the ball, completing 85 of 94 attempted passes. However, it's one thing doing the business against lower league opposition, it's another entirely to do so on your Champions League debut. 

While Spurs hardly pulled up any trees in Milan on Tuesday night, falling to a 1-0 loss to the defending Serie A champions, what stood out was Sarr's performance at San Siro. He showed all the composure of a seasoned pro rather than one making his first ever appearance in Europe's elite club competition. Only the experienced Ivan Perisic (7.16) earned a better WhoScored rating than Sarr (7.12) of Spurs players in midweek. 

Only Ryan Sessegnon (7 vs Eintracht Frankfurt) has made more tackles of Spurs players than Sarr (5 vs AC Milan) in a Champions League match this season as he limited the impact of AC Milan pair Sandro Tonali and Rade Krunic. While he was on the losing side in Italy in the week, Sarr's showing was a bright spark in what should prove the start of a prolonged run of first team games for the former Metz man. 

The issue is whether Sarr offers what Spurs need from midfield. There is no denying that the north London side lack a creative player from the middle of the park, all the more so with Bentancur's season over. Across his six appearances for Spurs, Sarr has created just three goalscoring chances, and supporters would be hopeful that he'd be able to offer a little more spark in the final third. 

That being said, given the lack of creativity from midfield for Spurs already this season, Sarr's lack of key passes is hardly cause for concern in a system that relies heavily on the wing-backs and the forward players in support of Harry Kane to pry apart opposition defences. 

Looking ahead to Spurs' welcome of West Ham on Sunday, and both midfields are robbed of key men. Conte will rue the lack of Bentancur and Bissouma, though Hojbjerg's availability is a boost and it's expected that Sarr will line up alongside the Dane on home turf. For the Hammers, Lucas Paqueta may have made a poor start to life in east London, yet has put in much-improved showings alongside Declan Rice of late, and his unavailability owing to a shoulder injury is a blow. 

As such, Sarr and Hojbjerg are likely to be competing with Rice and Tomas Soucek for midfield superiority in the final Premier League game of the weekend. While they may be viewed as a daunting proposition, Sarr proved in Milan he's not one to be overawed by the occasion and the welcome of West Ham on Sunday should be no different. 

When it was confirmed that Bentancur would miss the rest of 2022/23, fans were gutted that they'd lost their driving force from midfield. Sarr may not be of the same calibre as Bentancur, yet his performance against AC Milan certainly gave supporters cause for optimism as Spurs gear up to navigate a tough end to the campaign.