Moving Target – Yaya Sanogo

Alan Pardew made his first move in the transfer market as manager of Crystal Palace earlier today, after acquiring Yaya Sanogo on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season.

As he looks to bolster an attack that scored a meagre two goals in the seven league matches prior to his arrival, the former Newcastle boss admitted that the 21-year-old has been on his, and Palace’s, respective radars for some time:

“He’s a young player with tremendous promise, somebody that I have tracked personally and this club has too so that fitted well. We have given him an opportunity, he needs to play more games and I think he’s ready for that and he proved that at Arsenal. It’s tough to get in their team but he’s closer to the starting action with us.”

As the injury situation eases for Arsenal, Sanogo’s chances of starts look remote at the Emirates right now. The youngster is optimistic, however, that the move to Selhurst Park will help him garner a little more top-flight experience:

“When the Arsenal manager spoke with me about Crystal Palace I was very happy because I want to play more games. I think Palace are a good team, I watched the game against Tottenham and it was a great performance from the guys. I hope I can help the club have a successful second half of the season… My ambition is to keep on and every day work hard on the training ground, and try to always play. It would certainly be good to play [more] for my adaptation of the league. I have spoken to the manager and he says if I work hard, I will play, and to improve every day after training.”

The History

Sanogo’s youth career kicked off in his native France back in 2005 when he joined local side Les Ulis. A year later, he was snapped up by Auxerre and rapidly rose up through the ranks with a series of prolific displays. After notching 15 times in 31 appearances for the club’s B team in 2009/10, Sanogo made his Ligue 1 debut that same season before a serious leg injury kept him on the sidelines for a number of months.

After recovering in time for the 2011/12 campaign, Sanogo scored just once in seven appearances as his side slipped into the French Second Division. A return to the lower leagues saw him rediscover his eye for goal, though – after netting 10 times in just 13 Ligue 2 outings, Sanogo was snapped up by Arsene Wenger in July 2013. So far, though, his time at the Emirates has been restricted mainly to substitute outings – a single goal and three assists in 20 appearances, over the course of 878 minutes, underlines a clear lack of opportunities.

On the international stage, Sanogo played a total of 62 times from Under-16 to Under-21 level for France. Despite registering an impressive 37 goals, he’s yet to make the step up to the senior side.

The Prospects

Bearing in mind that Palace’s most prolific strikers this season are Dwight Gayle and Fraizer Campbell, with three goals apiece, it’s clear that Pardew needs reinforcements up front. So far, the new manager has rolled out a 4-3-3 formation over both matches in charge and started Glenn Murray – back from a loan stint at Reading – as his preferred lone striker. Discussing his intentions, Pardew had confirmed he’s in the market for fresh faces:

“We are kind of monitoring strikers. My pool of strikers don’t have any problem with that. They know competition is coming in. [Glenn] Murray was terrific and I was really pleased with him; that is a boost for us but hopefully there will be a striker or two arriving.”

The Eagles have allegedly been knocked back by Rickie Lambert and are also amongst a host of clubs eyeing up Jermain Defoe for a loan deal. Standing six foot four, Sanogo certainly has the stature to lead the line on his own, though his lack of experience (and scoring record) at the highest level still raises question marks over his likelihood of nailing down a starting berth – particularly if Palace continue with a 4-3-3 formation from here on in. With Yannick Bolasie and Mile Jedinak still to return, though, Pardew could yet move to two up front and bolster the youngster’s chances of more minutes.

As we’ve discussed in recent articles, Pardew’s intentions to attack could force us to look at the Eagles’ options in a different light. After toiling so badly in the latter stages of Neil Warnock’s second stint in charge, they’ve fallen far from our Fantasy radars but Saturday’s 2-1 win over Spurs saw them rack up 21 attempts and 15 efforts inside the area in Pardew’s first league match at the helm – encouragingly, no side bettered those stats over Gameweek 21.

With the fixtures falling firmly in their favour (bur, EVE, lei, NEW), Palace certainly have the opportunity to string together some morale-boosting displays to strengthen their fight for survival. Priced at just 4.7 in the Fantasy Premier League game, Sanogo could find his way into our plans as a cut-price third striker, allowing us to splash more cash in midfield or defence, but as Wilfried Zaha has shown, a loan move to Selhurst Park doesn’t necessarily spell success. At present then, Jason Puncheon, at 5.5, seems the likeliest route into Palace’s attack, though at that price, Sanogo is worth monitoring if he can finally start to settle in the Premier League.

Further Reference

Yaya Sanogo Wikipedia

Yaya Sanogo Transfer Markt Page

Yaya Sanogo YouTube Highlights