Soon-to-be Arsenal forward Sanogo has almost done with football at the age of 19

As Yaya Sanogo is edging closer to Arsenal move, he admitted he almost retired from football three years ago due to serious injury.

The 20-year-old forward first sustained a broken leg in September 2010. Later his fitness problems were aggravated by a knee trouble, which led him to seriously consider the option of retirement. However the mental strength and determination helped the player to overcome all the problems and return to his best. As a result, he is about to sign a four-year deal with Arsenal in the upcoming weeks.

Former Auxerre player said: “At that time, I was all alone. You say to yourself: “But I can’t even run”. I said to myself it was finished. I had made a lot of sacrifices. I started playing football at six, arrived at Auxerre at 13, and overnight, I couldn’t run any more. You turn in on yourself, and start to think about doing other jobs. One day I said to myself: “I’m going to push as hard as I can. If it goes, it goes”.”

Sanogo netted nine goals in his 13 Ligue 2 outings and was an integral part of his national side at World Cup U-21 in Turkey, scoring a goal against Ghana. He said: “When I’m on the pitch, I don’t really think about it. I was just happy to have scored in the World Cup, it means a lot to me. But you know, what I went through, I think about it all the time. I learned a lot from that time. In everything I do today, it plays a role. I knew that I was strong mentally, but I fought against myself.”