17 May 2013 14:22
Meet Arsenal target Yaya Sanogo: the archetypal Wenger signing
The 20-year-old striker has an impressive strike rate in Ligue 2, but has struggled with a series of injuries throughout his career and is yet to complete five consecutive matches
The deal is not quite official yet but Arsenal appear set to make their first summer capture in the shape of young French striker Yaya Sonogo, who is set to arrive at the Emirates Stadium on a free transfer from Ligue 2 outfit Auxerre.
Sanogo will arrive in London a virtual unknown, having played only 22 senior matches in France. With no fee associated with the move, other than training compensation to be paid to the Bourguignon outfit, he is in many ways an archetypal Arsene Wenger signing.
At 20 years old the striker shows terrific promise. He is from the athletic school of French forwards, built with the strength beyond his years and blessed with electric pace. Perhaps most importantly to Arsenal fans, though, is that he has shown himself to be a genuine goalscorer this season.
From his 11 matches with Auxerre in Ligue 2, he has scored an impressive nine goals. Seven of these came in back-to-back games, in which he struck a treble versus Tours exactly a week after scoring four times in an encounter away at Laval. Such a prolific ability in front of goal is rare for one so young.
Those attributes, it would seem, should have big clubs clamouring for his signature but so far the interest has been relatively muted. Lille proved to be Arsenal's biggest rivals for Sanogo's signature but given his capacity to find the net there has been a surprising lack of serious interest from elsewhere.
Looking at the player's injury record gives a clue as to why. He has been beset by problems throughout his young career, including a broken leg that kept him out of virtually the entire 2009-10 campaign and a torn adductor that saw him sidelined for much of the following season.
To make matters worse, he has been plagued by a series of more minor issues over the course of the last year and will on Friday, assuming he is selected to play against Clermont, only feature in five consecutive matches for the first time in his career.
Sanogo has a habit over overcoming setbacks, though. As a youth he was turned away from the illustrious Clairefontaine academy and instead played for local Parisian club Les Ulis for a year as a 13-year-old. Les Ulis have proven themselves capable of forming world-class striking talent in the past, with Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry among their alumni.
If Sanogo's ability to remain fit is questionable, there are few problems elsewhere in his game.
Standing at comfortably over six-feet tall, he possesses a physical strength that his lanky frame would suggest unlikely, allying this with great pace that makes him difficult to stop once he gets away from defenders.
He has been compared to Romelu Lukaku due to his similar height and attributes, yet there can be little doubt that the Chelsea man, who has spent the season on loan at West Brom, is a good deal further along in his development.
Sanogo, however, has greater scope for improvement. First-team matches will bring with them a greater understanding of the game while there is little doubt that working with Wenger's team at Arsenal he can improve his link-up play and become a more rounded striker.
The France Under-21 international is not the first man that Wenger has plucked from Auxerre, following previous moves for Bacary Sagna and Abou Diaby, with the latter also moving at the age of 20.
Gunners fans hoping that he will be an immediate replacement for Robin van Persie are likely to be left disappointed, but if the young Frenchman is given the duration of his expected four-year deal to develop and manages to shrug off the injury problems that have hindered his development to date, there is little doubt that Wenger may just have found himself another diamond in the rough.
Originally Posted by Grimandi's Perm
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