Yaya Sanogo: Introducing Arsenal’s latest French prodigy

Yaya Sanogo: Introducing Arsenal’s latest French prodigy

Cluub Ominsport Les Ulis has been good to Arsenal . Located twenty-three kilometres south west of central Paris in Essonne, a département of the Île-de-France region, CO Les Ulis were formed in 1977, the year the town itself was established and developed. They play in the depths of France’s lower leagues, an unspectacular team who lost their last league game 11-1 to Meaux FC.
Injury blow
Ability / StyleH

Like with any team, Ulissiens are proud of their local club. Emblazoned on the crest are the words “Ulissien pour toujours” (Ulissien forever) and these words mean something to the inhabitants. At least they did to the club’s most famous son, Thierry Henry.

Ulissien by birth, it was at CO Les Ulis where Arsenal’s all-time leading goalscorer took his first steps to greatness. It was here, between the ages of six and twelve, that a young Henry would form a bond with the football; playing, learning, discovering the magic and the endless possibilities that come with having a ball at one’s feet.

Henry would not forget those early days of enchantment. In 2009 he returned to donate €200,000 for the construction of a 5-a-side pitch in his hometown. Arsenal fell in love with the CO Les Ulis graduate, and they may well be about to go through the process all over again with the signing of Yaya Sanogo.

Sanogo may be a new name for many Arsenal fans but he has been on the radar of those with an interest in French football for some time. Another player to pass through CO Les Ulis, where he spent one year before joining Auxerre, Sanogo is widely considered one of the most exciting young talents in France.

In 2010 the striker made a name for himself with this spectacular overhead kick in a Sendai Cup game for France Under-19s against Brazil:

This quite unbelievable strike only added to the myth of the young Sanogo, whispered about up and down the country in excited tones, the boy who scored 18 goals in 18 games at France Under-16 level who was now doing this with a football, against Brazil of all people.

Sanogo’s record at youth level was extraordinary. At 16 he signed his first professional contract at Auxerre and cited Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor as his reference points. “In my eyes those two are the complete players in their position,” he said in 2009 after playing at the Tournoi Montaigu where, naturally, he finished as top scorer.

Sanogo would make his professional debut soon after, a 16-year-old thrown into battle. He was ready. You might say he was born ready; at 15 he was already 6ft 3inches.

In 2010 however pain replaced progress when Sanogo suffered a clean fracture of the tibia whilst playing in a reserve game for Auxerre against Mulhouse. It would rule him out of the rest of the season and since then, injury problems have continued to resurface, something which may worry Arsenal fans.

He worked hard to return to full fitness however, and Auxerre’s coaching staff remarked on a new mental toughness about the youngster, which Sanogo himself put down to the challenges of overcoming such a shocking setback. “I think of all the problems I have had to endure,” he said in an interview in 2011. “In everyday life, it is in my head. I know where I come from.”

Auxerre’s manager at the time, Laurent Fournier, was delighted by this new aspect of Sanogo’s character. Fournier too was a child prodigy – he made his debut for Olympique Lyonnais at just 16, like Sanogo – and had no qualms about throwing the youngster back into the first team.

“For me he has the qualities, his age doesn’t matter. I find it idiotic to shield a player like that,” Fournier said at the time, words you might expect to hear from Sanogo’s new manager Arsene Wenger, who shares the same philosophy.

Sanogo did not disappoint, scoring his first professional goal for Auxerre against Toulouse in November 2011.

The club were relegated and Fournier sacked, but the French Under-20 international who is currently leading the line for France at the Under-20 World Cup has continued to demonstrate his serious potential, sufficient for Arsenal to snap him up on a free transfer.

At 6ft 3′ Sanogo’s lanky frame is like that of a basketball player, but the raw talent is enormous. He plays on the shoulders of defenders, using pace to run in behind, though he could work on perfecting that burst of acceleration all top strikers possess. He is languid at times but his build-up play in and around the box is intelligent.

With France U-20s the attacking midfielders and wide forwards use him as a launch pad for their runs. Sanogo holds it, plays neat one-twos (he has very good technique with the ball at his feet) and allows them to charge into the box.

e scores goals with both feet and is a natural in the air. And while there is a lot to work on for him to become the marquee player Arsenal hope for, his presence, ability to shrug off defenders, good link-up play, clever movement and goalscoring prowess (9 goals in 9 starts for Auxerre in Ligue 2 last season – a rate of a goal every 101 minutes, including 7 in 2 games) all hint at a player of enormous potential, with whom Arsenal’s coaching staff will surely enjoy working and moulding.

“Sanogo has the perfect approach to football,” Bernard Casoni, his manager at Auxerre raved last season. “He listens, he’s humble, he has his feet on the ground. He’s a joy for a manager to work with.” His talents will take a few years to mould, particularly with the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Olivier Giroud in front of him, but the basic framework of a quality striker is there somewhere.

Sanogo himself is only too aware of the question marks that come with being a promising player suddenly and harshly stunted by injury at a key phase of development. Do the doubters worry him?

“What people say, that’s their problem,” the 20-year-old told France Footballin an interview earlier this year. “I have fun on the pitch and I’ll keep doing what I know how to do – score goals.”

He may not quite have the playing style of Thierry Henry but there’s definitely something of his fellow Ulissien alumni in that answer.