Friday, March 29, 2024

Yaya Sanogo Set To Join Ajax As Arsenal Continue To Trim Attacking Excess

Arsenal are expected to announce that Yaya Sanogo will join Ajax on a season-long loan deal in the coming days. 

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The striker has failed to find his feet in an overwhelming amount of competition up top, and now Arsene Wenger is prepared to let Sanogo gain some regular playing time.

That’s according to reports in De Telegraaf today, who state that Ajax have come out as front-runners to gain his signature.

And there’s very good reason for the Gunners boss choosing the Dutch club as his destination for the year, with ex-Arsenal legend Marc Overmars currently their director of football.

Despite a number of academy players attending, the 22-year-old was not included in Arsenal’s 27-man squad who have now landed in Singapore.

That can only suggest that talks are in an advanced stage to sort the future of the French international sooner rather than later.

Sanogo has scored just once in his 20 appearances for Arsenal, but despite those statistics Wenger has always been an admirer of the French youngster.

Times were hard since arriving at the club in 2013, and the attacking talent that Arsenal posses was too much for the striker to handle.

Crystal Palace were only able to take the 22-year-old out on loan last season, where he made regular appearances under Alan Pardew.

However, he failed to score in his 10 Premier League appearances with The Eagles during the second half of the season, which has left Wenger knowing he isn’t ready for first-team football at Arsenal.

If there is anybody who can teach Sanogo of the Arsenal way, it’s the Ajax assistant manager, Dennis Bergkamp, who made 315 appearances for the Gunners.

Sanogo’s imminent departure will once again fuel transfer speculation as Wenger prepares to launch a serious title challenge, suggesting that a world-class forward is on the verge of a switch. Especially coupled with Lukas Podolski’s departure and Joel Campbell’s pending move.

The likes of Karim Benzema and Alexandre Lacazette are now the front-runners in Arsenal’s search for a top name, and it seems Wenger is prepared to clear out the dead-wood to make room for a realistic competitor for the strikers spot.

Sanogo will follow in the footsteps of Lukas Podolski, who has already secured a permanent switch to Galatassary, and is expected to be joining Joel Campbell in leaving the Gunners on loan as well.

Alexis Sanchez will miss the start of the Premier League season and Theo Walcott is prone to injury scares, which leaves just Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck as our choices at centre forward.

Any deal to let Sanogo join Ajax will be confirmed when Arsene Wenger returns from the tour of Singapore, in the short space of time between that and the Emirates Cup.

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