Arsenal striker whose dream switch grew to become nightmare now scoring targets in China
Saudi Arabia might be the go-to destination for wantaway Premier League stars these days, but before that it was China which offered a cash-rich escape route and one former Arsenal star is still out there banging in goals
It’s seemingly all the rage for players to leave the Premier League and head for Saudi Arabia these days – but does anybody remember when China was the new football powerhouse on the block?
Salomon Rondon, Odion Ighalo, Marko Arnautovic, Ramires and Oscar are just a few of the high-profile stars from England who headed East to the Chinese Super League.
And a former Arsenal star who scored the winning goal in a Champions League group-stage game, won the 2013-14 FA Cup, Community Shield and Under-20 World Cup in 2013 is banging in goals, not in the Chinese top flight, but in their second division.
Yaya Sanogo, who turned 32 at the end of last month, is plying his trade for Qingdao Red Lions and the striker has six goals in 14 games for the club which has only existed since 2016 and play at Laixi Sports Center with a capacity of 10,000.
Sanogo joined Arsene Wenger’s Gunners in 2013 on a long-term deal after seven years at Auxerre, with his best moment coming early on in a Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund in the 2014-15 season – his first and last competitive goal for the club.
He was soon frozen out and couldn’t get a game for the Gunners. After loans to Crystal Palace, Ajax and Charlton, Sanogo was released by Arsenal and joined Toulouse in 2017, where he spent three years, before a short return to England with Huddersfield.
The Terriers managed to avoid the drop out of the Championship in that 2020-21 campaign, but Sanogo was again released. Armenia’s FC Urartu came calling at the start of 2023 and he enjoyed a two-goal debut appearance.
Out in China since March 2024, former France Under-21s man Sanogo has played just 14 games, but is still capable of banging in the goals.
And speaking to Masterclass Media in April 2023, Sanogo revealed all about his Arsenal signing and explained how he didn’t think it was real.
He said: “For all the problems I’d had, the phone wouldn’t ring for two years. But after my seven goals in two games, Arsene Wenger calls me.
“I had a little Motorola, I promise you I had that phone. I was at home using my Macbook and I saw +44. I’m thinking, ‘What is this number?’ So I don’t answer, but he called again.
“He said, ‘Hello? Hello? It’s Arsene Wenger’. I thought it was a joke.”
