Yaya Sanogo: “There is a good player in there, he just needs to find the right club to settle.”
Brady Frost, Feature Writer
Twitter: @brady0894
Source for image above: HTAFC
From featuring in a FIFA U-20 World Cup winning team with Paul Pogba to being a free agent for months, we find out more about how Yaya Sanogo ended up at Huddersfield Town and what fans from his former clubs thought of him.
When Yaya Sanogo made his debut for Auxerre in 2009, he was hotly tipped to be one of the generational talents in France. For the French under-16s, he notched an incredible 18 goals in 18 matches and went on to be captain for the Under 17s for a brief spell following an international suspension of his compatriot Paul Pogba.
During his time for Auxerre’s B team and then the first team, the goals kept coming and eventually, he sealed a move to Arsenal in 2013, before going onto win France's first-ever FIFA U-20 World Cup in that summer. Things looked bright for Sanogo, yet now in 2021, he has joined Huddersfield Town on a deal until the end of the season after being a free agent for months.
So, where did it go wrong for Sanogo or was it another sad story of a young player who gets hyped too quickly too soon and then can’t live up to those huge expectations? With the help of some fans at his former clubs, we try to figure out what we can expect from the Frenchman after starting fairly brightly for The Terriers.
Recap of his career and signing with Huddersfield
The 6’ 3” tall striker joined Huddersfield Town on a deal until the end of this current season. The 28-year-old, who was a free agent after leaving French side Toulouse, has played across Europe throughout his career.
He joined Auxerre as a 13-year-old and signed his first professional contract in 2009 with the club. During his four year spell in the first team, he scored 11 goals in 21 appearances, with 10 goals in just nine starts and four substitute appearances in the 2012/13 season. That promise saw him move to Arsenal in July 2013, but persistent injuries meant he couldn’t force his way into the first team and after loan spells with Crystal Palace, Ajax and Charlton during his four years with the Gunners, he was released in 2017.
Shortly after his contract expiry, he returned to France with Toulouse and spent three years there, finishing as the club’s second-highest goalscorer in each of those three seasons. Overall, he notched 16 goals in 70 competitive games with Les Violets with 43 of those appearances being starts, it’s far from prolific but his physical presence means he can offer alternative options to Town’s other striking options.
Leigh Bromby, Huddersfield Town’s Head of Football Operations was highlighting his career at the top as useful for the relegation run-in. He said: “He’s been at some big clubs in his career and comes having most recently played in a top European league. We were looking for a player who can have a real impact for us this season and we believe he fits the bill.”
With Danny Ward battling with injury all season, Fraizer Campbell has been Town’s only fit senior striker for most of the campaign. Sanogo’s arrival means he can rotate with or support Campbell as we’ve already seen and with nine matches in 39 days after the upcoming international break, he’ll be needed for the run-in.
In an interview with the club, Sanogo said: “I’m very excited to sign at Huddersfield Town. I’m happy because it’ll be a good challenge for me. It’ll be good for me and the Club.” Photo source: Sky Sports
Arsenal
Most fans may have heard Sanogo’s name previously from his time at Arsenal. Then manager Arsène Wenger was renowned for bringing in young French talent and the move was considered a potential coup at the time, but it didn’t work out.
“His time at Arsenal was brief and he played infrequently. He may be a very different player now, what little we saw of him was interesting.” Elliot Smith, Arsenal fan from the Arsenal Vision podcast says. “He was athletic and energetic, he could burst into the penalty area explosively but he couldn’t do anything once he got there - a player with jaw-droppingly poor technique.
“The best thing I can say about him is that he was something of a chaos agent. He is a player who, through sheer athleticism can pose problems for the opposition but he is not a player who will thrive within a structure. He’s also going to need someone near him to capitalise on the chaos he creates because his technique lets him down in the pressure moments.
“I watched him for France the summer before he arrived and he really seemed to have some promise in a team filled with soon-to-be golden generation players, but he just lacked the basic technical quality or end product required. It’s quite amazing that, from such a talented generation of French talent, we managed to get arguably the biggest bust.
“Sanogo was like a fever dream at Arsenal. He scored in the Emirates Cup, it was his finest moment. There’s no way to know exactly why he was so useless for the club but I suppose it’s often the case with young players that they simply never reach the level to play regularly for a big club. His brief stay somehow felt unique though. A player never close to the first team for most of his time at the club but also started a CL knockout tie against Bayern Munich, utterly bizarre. He is not a player to go unnoticed, that’s for sure but you better have someone who can finish standing near him.
“It’s a long time since I watched him. The player I saw wasn’t ready for professional football at any serious level as harsh as that sounds. You may be in for some frustratingly hilarious moments. He played for us when he was young and it was a lifetime ago in football terms. If he sorted out his technical limitations, he certainly had the physical qualities to become a useful and potentially even imposing player. But that’s a long bridge to cross.”
Yaya Sanogo played in eight matches for Charlton in the Championship after joining on loan for the second half of the season back in 2016. Photo source: News Shopper
Charlton Athletic
He might have played for Arsenal but can he cut it in the Championship? Sanogo does have experience at this level, having played previously in the league during a loan spell in 2016 for the second half of the 2015/16 season with Charlton Athletic. Lewis Catt, Charlton fan and podcaster for Charlton Live, recalls Sanogo’s time with the Addicks as fairly positive.
“Sanogo comes with a strong pedigree at various levels. He is still fairly young so the move to The Terriers seems like a good opportunity to kick start his career again. Yaya is a bit of a poacher, he brings others into play well and is good at holding up the ball and running at defenders. He works hard and wears his heart on his sleeve.
“His hold up play and work ethic were his definite strengths during his time in SE7. I would say given his time with the club was six years ago that his game has probably matured in that time. His weaknesses at the time were probably his finishing and he did have a bit of a temper.
“Sanogo came to Charlton back in 2015 as a promising loan talent from Arsenal in a season of struggle for the Addicks. Some promising performances backed up his potential including a hattrick in a 4-3 defeat against Reading. However, sadly Sanogo was unable to help arrest the slide and the Addicks suffered relegation that season.
“I would say patience is required with him. He is a young player who had a bit of a false start in his career and is working his way back. There is a good player in there he just needs to find the right club to settle. He was labelled as a bit of a comical talent at Arsenal never really doing the business in the regular season but would always have strong preseasons.
“He did a job for us in one of the toughest seasons to watch as a Charlton fan. In a season where the majority of the squad could have had its commitment questioned I would say Sanogo for a loan player did his very best.
“I would just say that is a big confidence player. Give him time and I am sure if you can create the chances for him he will start to notch goals especially in and around the 18-yard box. He won’t notch goal tallies like Karlan Grant would have done but if he suits your style of play there is no reason why he can’t score 10+ goals a season.”
Sanogo scored 16 goals in 70 competitive games with Toulouse. Photo source: Media Referee/Getty Images
Toulouse
His return to France in 2017 saw him join Toulouse, a team that regularly battled relegation in the French top flight. In Sanogo’s final season with the club, they did suffer relegation to the second division and he was released in the summer.
‘It's a good move for him to join Huddersfield.” Bleu Occitanie journalist and Toulouse fan Julien Balidas says. ”It's a real project in a country he likes, we heard that he could go to Malta or other countries but I think Sanogo is a player with more confidence now, no pressure and he can enjoy himself.”
“He played 72 games for Toulouse and scored 16 goals. He said it was ‘not so bad’ but Toulouse's fans were not so happy with Sanogo's job. He came after some injuries and loans but didn’t score enough. In defence of him, it was a really bad period for the club. The last 10 years for Toulouse were awful with bad results and the direction of the club was criticised by the fans. Finally, they were relegated last season, so although he wasn’t amazing, Sanogo was not helped by the situation of the club.
“Can he make an impact in the Championship? Yes, I think so. Even though the situation at Toulouse was complicated for Sanogo, he found confidence at the club after suffering several injuries and was there for three seasons playing over 70 games so it gave him some confidence in regards to his injuries and being able to play consistently.
“He wants to be on the ball and he can help defensively too. He helps his midfielders and he’s good at keeping the ball high up the pitch but he could be more instinctive, he's doesn’t always take his chances or take risks close to the goal.
“After being released from Toulouse last summer, he had been training with AJ Auxerre during the winter but it’s hard to say how fit he is. He can be a good player in this league. He knows English football, having played in the Championship and the Premier League before.
“He’s tall and can be crucial at freekicks, but works well with another striker close to him and he has good passing ability too. I’d say his weaknesses are that he can be quite slow and as a striker, he isn’t prolific enough, with just 16 goals from his three seasons at Toulouse. That’s not enough, he has to score more.”
Yaya has averaged just 31 minutes per game in his four appearances for The Terriers so far. Photo source: HTAFC
Summary
Sanogo may have missed a penalty against Cardiff but from the minutes we’ve seen of him in a Town shirt, he offers a different option to Fraizer Campbell that The Terriers have desperately been lacking. He has performed the role that Carlos Corberán has asked of him so far in this new style that the team are playing.
He has averaged just 31 minutes per game in his four appearances for The Terriers so far, with just one start, the match against Cardiff where we saw some nice build-up play that led to the penalty for Town which he eventually missed.
An emerging pattern in Huddersfield’s recent recruitment seems to be signing either up-and-coming players to help bridge the quality gap between the B Team and first team or bringing in players for the first team where that player’s career hasn’t gone how they expected and arrive at the John Smith’s Stadium with a point to prove - Sanogo is in the latter category.
The addition of Sanogo to the team outside of the transfer window makes it clear that Sanogo wasn’t the first choice striker target. Now the dust has settled and he has shown flashes of being at the very least, a useful squad addition for a Championship team, here’s hoping that he can kick on. If Sanogo can prove useful and make a contribution in the final part of the season for The Terriers then we’d be happy to see him put on the blue and white shirt for Town next season.
Do you think Yaya Sanogo will be a success at Huddersfield Town? Let us know in the comments.
