Crystal Palace manger Oliver Glasner believes the club should have spent more in the summer given their European commitments, arguing that January is too late to bolster his squad.
MATCH REPORT: Crystal Palace 1-2 Manchester United
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Sarr has four goals in his past three appearances and is already close to matching his tally from last season – 12 goals across all competitions.
Palace signed Sarr from Marseille for a fee of about £12.5m in 2024 in an attempt to replace winger Michael Olise, who had joined Bayern Munich that summer.
That is a piece of business that now looks incredibly shrewd, particularly with Eze also leaving the club this year.
Boss Oliver Glasner called the former Watford forward “an important player” for the club.
“It looks like he is dealing really well with this – we know when he has pace, he is really good,” the Austrian said.
“He has such great runs, such great finishes. I remember, more or less, the same finish he had against Brighton [last season].
“He had the same finish against Arsenal in the FA Cup [last season]. He is the one with the pace, and more runs in behind, the most sprinting difference. It helps he creates space for the others. He has done really well.”
The Conference League has been won by an English team in two of the past three tournaments and Palace are among the favourites to add their names to that list this term.
After a shock defeat by AEK Larnaca at Selhurst Park last time out, Glasner said the victory in front of their home supporters was much needed.
“I hope it won’t be the last,” he said.
“The first time you always remember, there was a great atmosphere. I think everyone enjoyed it and goes home pleased with the result and the performance.”
The Football Association has charged Crystal Palace with misconduct after supporters held a banner depicting Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis holding a gun to midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White’s head.
The banner, unfurled during the 1-1 Premier League draw at Selhurst Park in August, read: “Mr Marinakis is not involved in blackmail, match-fixing, drug trafficking or corruption.”
Marinakis has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to such allegations.
The FA has charged Palace with failing to ensure that supporters did not behave in an improper, offensive, abusive or provocative way.
The English Football League has criticised the “undermining” of the Carabao Cup after it was forced to compromise on the date of Crystal Palace’s quarter-final because of fixture congestion.
Palace will now face Arsenal in the last eight at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, 23 December at 20:00 GMT.
The other three quarter-finals take place the previous week but the Eagles’ commitments in the Uefa Conference League – they host Finnish club KuPS at Selhurst Park on 18 December – has left them with four games in nine days.
Palace host Manchester City on 14 December and are away to Leeds on 21 December, either side of the KuPS game.
A statement from the EFL was critical of the “expansion of European cup competitions” which it believes was “implemented without adequate consultation with domestic leagues”.
The EFL said it had “shown a willingness to compromise” but scheduling conflicts are “now entirely unavoidable”.
“To continue making endless concessions only serves to undermine the reputation of the EFL Cup,” said the statement.
“It also challenges the traditional scheduling of the English football calendar and strength of our domestic game.”
Uefa’s European calendar now stretches across 10 midweeks, rather than the six of two seasons ago, with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League each given a standalone week for exposure.
It has caused a huge logistical headache, with the third round of the EFL Cup having to be seeded and played across two weeks to keep clubs in the Champions League and Europa League apart.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner said last week it would be “irresponsible” if the club were forced to play two games in three days.
The EFL said it shared the “frustration and concern” of managers and players concerning the congested programme which deprived clubs of the “necessary time for preparation” and ability to “field their strongest line-ups” in the EFL Cup.
The Premier League recently blamed the increased number of European fixtures for there being just one game on 26 December in the English top flight.
Boxing Day fixtures have been a long-standing tradition in English football but this year the only Premier League game will be Manchester United’s home match with Newcastle United (20:00 GMT).