Arsenal: Will Yaya Sanogo Have Any Impact On The Season?

Arsenal and Arsene Wenger loaned out a host of players this summer, none of them being Yaya Sanogo. Will the bumbling Frenchman have any effect this season?

The usage of players for depth is a line that managers of all clubs must tread with great care. Have players of too great a talent, then they may feel underused and undervalued, leading to an unharmonious and splintered dressing room, have players that are not talented enough, and injuries, as Arsenal have discovered far too easily in recent years, can scupper any hopes of success.

That is where Yaya Sanogo comes into the equation. Is the gangly, awkward but sometimes oddly effective Frenchman good enough to provide quality depth at a position of such great importance with few other options?

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If injury strikes, as it so often does for Arsenal and their forwards, then in the worst case scenario Sanogo could be called upon, at least as a bench player. Clearly, there is more than a good chance of such issues never escalating to that extreme level, but with the Gunners, injuries are never far around the corner.

Moreover, Wenger reportedly blocked a loan transfer away from the Emirates with Leeds manager Garry Monk sniffing around the young striker on transfer deadline day. Whether those reports are true or not remains to be seen. What can be assumed with relative certainty, though, is that Wenger wanted to keep Sanogo at Arsenal. If Wenger wanted to loan out Sanogo, he could of – though it would likely have been at a far lower standard than that of the Premier League – and yet, he chose not to.

Perhaps, then, Wenger is worried about the potential issues in the centre-forward area if injuries do indeed strike. The recent addition of Lucas Perez definitely adds another option, but other than Giroud, all are rather unproven in England.

Theo Walcott is neither a striker nor winger, Alexis Sanchez is improving in the role but is far more effective off the left wing, Danny Welbeck is injured once again and Chuba Akpom is yet to cement himself a regular role in the first team, and while he is most definitely a talented goalscorer proven by his record at youth level, he is far from established in the senior game.

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Consequently, Sanogo will be competing with Akpom for the sixth striker role. That may seem like a long way down the squad list, but Arsenal have suffered injury crisis worse in the past. I hope that Sanogo is not needed this coming year, but Wenger either couldn’t ship him out or still wants him at the club. Neither are nice options.

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