Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo is approaching the final 12 months of his contract at the Emirates Stadium and looks on course to be released next summer upon its expiration. It will be a sad sight to see such potential ultimately amounting to nothing, but the 23-year-old has been given enough opportunity to prove his worth. Although the competition was tough for places in the Arsenal First team, Wenger Gave Sanogo enough opportunities to prove his worth. After failing to grasp those opportunities he was sent out on to Crystal Palace but Sanogo struggled even there and couldn’t find the back of the net even once.
The former France U21 international joined Ajax on a season-long loan last summer, but found game time limited, as he managed just three league appearances at Ajax. He had quite a high reputation before moving to London but things have only gone downhill for him ever since then. Wenger is known for putting his faith in youngsters and developing them into genuine world beaters. However Sanogo has been that rare failure for the Frenchman.
Sanogo has not scored a single goal for the first team at Arsenal in 11 league appearances. He has been at various clubs on loan as well already but has done nothing to instill confidence in Wenger or the fans. It would be wrong to criticise the youngster too much considering he still very young and has a lot to learn. It would also not be wrong to say that Wenger must have seen some future potential in the youngster that made him go out and buy him in the first place. However to have Sanogo back at the club, as even a third or fourth choice striker next season really shows a lack of ambition on Arsenal’s part.
Fans are demanding that Wenger goes out and buys a world class striker this summer, which could mean another loan spell for Sanogo. Unfortunately for him, even if he returns, there are many other youngsters like Chuba Akpom and Jeff Reine-Adelaide who deserve to be ahead of him in the picking order, given their impressive performances in the limited game time they have got.
Signed from French Ligue club Auxerre in 2013, Sanogo has scored 10 goals in 13 league games the season prior to joining Arsenal. However it is very difficult at the moment to see Sanogo putting on an Arsenal Jersey again, given his poor performances and terrible injury record, his departure seems an inevitability.