Former Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo joins Huddersfield Town to add much-needed option

The 28-year-old was available after being released by Tolouse at the end of last season.

Sanogo completed his medical in France and is now isolating for a short period before joining the Terriers squad next week, subject to a negative Covid-19 test.

Although Town have scored a respectable 38 goals in 32 Championship matches – only Blackburn Rovers in the bottom half of the table have more – they are desperately light of options at centre-forward.

They started the campaign with only two senior specialists, 33-year-old Fraizer Campbell and summer signing Danny Ward. A succession of injuries have limited Ward to just three league starts.

Josh Koroma and Isaac Mbenza both filled in there, but they too have succumbed to injury.

The Terriers tried to rectify the situation, and were linked with a host of centre-forwards including Josip Drmic, Elijah Adebayo, Lee Gregory, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Kayden Jackson but the two players they did sign, Sorba Thomas and Danny Grant, were viewed as developmental players. Neither has yet started for the first team.

As after October's transfer window closed, when they brought in Alex Vallejo, they have turned to the free agent market to supplement their squad.

Sanogo began his career at Auxerre, famed for developing young talent, but quickly moved to Arsenal. Although he made only two Premier League starts, he also appeared in the Champions League for them, and was capped at under-21 level by France.

Unproductive loan spells at Palace, Ajax and Charlton followed before moving to Tolouse in July 17. He scored 13 goals in 71 Ligue 1 appearances and 10 in 13 Ligue 2 matches before being released in the summer.

Vallejo's experience shows it will take time for him to build up to the fitness levels Huddersfield's incredibly demanding coach Carlos Corberan requires. The Spanish midfielder made his debut 11 weeks after joining.

In the case of Sanogo, the club are hoping his experience of English football and grasp of the language speeds up the process. With one win in their last 11 matches, they have been dragged into the Championship relegation battle.

“Yaya is a player who has a background in English football, something that can make his adaptation to the Championship easier,” said Corberan.

“Physically he has a different profile to the strikers we already have in attack (6ft 3in tall) and it can help to increase the offensive versatility of the team.

“He has been training with a professional team in France from September until he made the journey to England, which means he should be in a better physical condition. He will still need a little time, and we will work with him to make him ready to help the team in the last part of the season.”

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