SARR: I WANT TO BE A MANE MAN

PAPE MATAR SARR has made his Premier League dream come true with Tottenham – now he wants to prove he can thrive at the highest level.

And he is using fellow Senegal star Sadio Mane, and Ivory Coast legend Yaya Toure, as his sources of inspiration – despite being nicknamed after a Brazilian hero, Roberto Carlos.

Box-to-box maestro Sarr, 21, said: “It was my uncle, my dad’s brother, who gave me the nickname Roberto Carlos.

“I had a really powerful shot on me – I’ve never lost it, but I just don’t find myself that close to the goal these days. I’m too far out to be trying it.”

Sarr (right) does have three top-flight goals to his name this season, and the best of which was an 18-yard Carlos-esque piledriver against Bournemouth in December.

Now he wants to add more to his game after picking the brains of international team-mate and idol Mane, who, like Sarr, was a product of Dakar’s Generation

Foot academy. Sarr said: “It was always my dream to meet Sadio because, frankly, he’s a hero to all of Africa, not just the academy. “Now I’m his team-mate in the national team. You try to get as much as you can out of his advice. He’s a role model for many.” Sarr, who initially struggled for Spurs game time under Antonio Conte, is now a vital part of Ange Postecoglou’s squad and said: “I’d like to think that’s partly down to the hard work I did in that first year. I wasn’t playing, but I didn’t let my head drop or my desire and belief decrease.

“But nothing has been achieved yet. Maybe the easy part is getting to the top. The hard bit is staying there.”

For Sarr, there is no greater role model than former Spurs academy coach Toure, who won three Premier League titles with Manchester City.

Sarr added: “I’m not saying I’m Yaya Toure – far from it – but there are facets that I try to copy. He’s a real role model for every young African player.”