Ismaïla Sarr

Watford On 8 August 2019, Sarr joined Premier League club Watford on a five-year contract. The transfer fee paid to Rennes was a club record for Watford and reported as "in the region of €30 million".

Sarr made his debut for Watford as a substitute in a 3–1 Premier League defeat to West Ham United at Vicarage Road on 24 August 2019. Three days later, on his first start for Watford, he scored his first goal in English football in an EFL Cup tie against Coventry City. On 30 November 2019, Sarr scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–1 loss at Southampton. On 22 December, he was voted man of the match in Watford's 2–0 home win over Manchester United – a match in which he scored the opening goal and was fouled for the penalty kick that was converted by captain Troy Deeney. On 29 February 2020, Sarr scored twice and assisted Deeney's third goal in Watford's 3–0 home victory over defending European Champions Liverpool, handing them their first defeat of the 2019–20 season and ending the club's 44-match unbeaten league run. On 26 July, Watford were relegated to the EFL Championship after losing 3–2 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in their final match of the season. Sarr ended 2019–20 with five goals and four assists in the Premier League.

During 2020–21, Sarr scored thirteen goals and provided ten assists, winning Watford's Player of the Season. On 24 April 2021, he scored the only goal of a 1–0 win over Millwall which ensured Watford's promotion back to the Premier League.

Sarr started 2021–22 by scoring five goals in the opening twelve Premier League matches. This included scoring once in a 3–2 win against Aston Villa in the opening game of the season, twice in a 3–1 win at Norwich City, once in a 1–1 draw at home to Newcastle United, and once in a 4–1 home win over Manchester United. However, Sarr struggled with injury for the rest of the season and did not score in his final ten appearances

On 8 August 2022, Sarr scored a goal from his own half in a 1–1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. The goal was later awarded EFL Championship Goal of the Season.

During his four seasons at Watford, he scored a 34 goals from 131 appearances.

Sarr made his debut for Marseille in a 1–0 loss to Panathinaikos in a UEFA Champions League qualifier on 9 August. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 Ligue 1 win over Brest at the Stade Vélodrome on 26 August.

After an impressive start on his return to France, recording five goal involvements in his first nine matches, Sarr struggled with form and fitness for most of the 2023–24 season. Overall, he registered three goals and three assists from 15 league starts, in addition to two goals and three assists in the club's run to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals, where they were beaten 4–1 on aggregate by eventual winners Atalanta.

Crystal Palace On 1 August 2024, Sarr returned to the Premier League, signing for Crystal Palace. He was assigned the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Michael Olise, who had departed for Bayern Munich.

Sarr made his debut for Crystal Palace as an 84th-minute substitute for Chris Richards in their opening match of the 2024–25 Premier League season, a 2–1 loss at Brentford on 18 August.

On 27 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 EFL Cup win over Norwich City; the goal, initially attributed to Eberechi Eze, was awarded to Sarr a week later.

His first league goal for the Eagles came in a 2–2 draw at Aston Villa on 23 November. After scoring in the fourth minute, he went on to record an assist for Justin Devenny in first-half stoppage time. On 15 December, he scored twice and assisted a goal for Trevoh Chalobah in Palace's 3–1 win at rivals Brighton & Hove Albion, winning the Man of the Match award.

During Palace's run to the 2025 FA Cup final, Sarr scored the team's second goal in the 3–0 quarter-final win at Fulham and then scored two goals and assisted the other in the 3–0 semi-final defeat of Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium. On 17 May 2025, Sarr played in the FA Cup final and won the FA Cup as Crystal Palace beat Manchester City 1–0 to win their first major trophy. Sarr followed this up by scoring in the 2025 FA Community Shield which Palace won against Liverpool.

On 30 April 2026, Sarr scored the fastest goal in the UEFA Conference League after 21 seconds in a 3–1 away win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the semi-final first leg, surpassing previous record of Ferdy Druijf. A few weeks later, on 10 May, he scored his 20th goal of the season in all competitions in a 2–2 draw with Everton, becoming the first Crystal Palace player to reach that mark since Glenn Murray did so in the 2012–13 season. On 28 May, he played all 90 minutes in the 2026 UEFA Conference League final as Palace won 1–0 against Rayo Vallecano.

In late August 2026, Liverpool reportedly made a £50 million bid for Sarr, which Crystal Palace rejected. The move collapsed on 1 September after Palace refused to lower their valuation.

International career

Sarr has represented his country with the Senegal U23 national team. In 2015, he played in 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. At that time, his age was only 17. He contributed that Senegal finished the competition in a fourth place, playing three games.

He played for the first time with Senegal national team for a match against Namibia in September 2016 in Dakar (2–0) for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, for which Senegal had already qualified. As a symbol, he came into play in the 67th minute in place of the former resident of Génération Foot and Metz, Sadio Mané. On 8 January 2017, Sarr scored his first international goal in a friendly match against Libya in Stade Municipal de Kintélé, Brazzaville.

In May 2018, he was named in Senegal's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He started all three group matches at the tournament as Senegal beat Poland 2–1, drew 2–2 with Japan and lost 1–0 to Colombia.

In 2019, Sarr was part of the Senegal squad that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, for only the second time in the nation's history. He played the full 90 minutes of the final on 19 July 2019, as they lost 1–0 to Algeria.

Sarr was part of Senegal's squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations; the Lions of Teranga went on to win the tournament for the first time in their history. He scored once in a 3–1 win over Equatorial Guinea at the quarter-final stage.

He was appointed a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion by President of Senegal Macky Sall following the nation's victory at the tournament.

Sarr started all four of Senegal's matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring in a 2–1 win over Ecuador that qualified the nation for the round of 16 for the first time since its debut in 2002.

In December 2023, he was named in Senegal's squad for the postponed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in the Ivory Coast. He started all four matches for the team, registering an assist in a 3–0 win over The Gambia, and both scoring and assisting once in a 3–1 win over Cameroon.

2026 FIFA World Cup On 21 May 2026, Sarr was selected by Senegal's coach Pape Thiaw in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

In Senegal's second group-stage match, he netted a brace in a 3–2 defeat against Norway, becoming the country's joint top scorer at the World Cup with three goals, alongside Papa Bouba Diop. A week later, on 26 June, he netted a goal and provided an assist in a 5–0 victory over Iraq, becoming Senegal's all-time top scorer at the World Cup with four goals and the third African player to score three goals in the group stage, following Papa Bouba Diop and Ismael Saibari.

He scored in the first knockout-stage match against Belgium on 1 July, which ended in a 3–2 defeat after extra time. With that goal, he became only the second African player, after Roger Milla, to score four goals in a single World Cup campaign, taking also his overall World Cup tally to five goals, moving behind only Asamoah Gyan among African goalscorers in the tournament's history. He also became the second African player to score in three consecutive World Cup matches after Ismael Saibari.

Personal life

Sarr holds French citizenship from his mother.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first.

Crystal Palace FA Cup: 2024–25 FA Community Shield: 2025 UEFA Conference League: 2025–26

Senegal Africa Cup of Nations: 2021; runner-up: 2019, 2025

Individual EFL Goal of the Season: 2022–23 UEFA Europa League Goal of the Season: 2018–19 Watford Player of the Season: 2020–21 Watford Players' Player of the Season: 2020–21 Crystal Palace Players' Player of the Season: 2025–26 UEFA Conference League top scorer: 2025–26 UEFA Conference League Player of the Season: 2025–26 UEFA Conference League Team of the Season: 2025–26

Orders Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion: 2022