He won the FA Cup at Arsenal but serious injury mistake stopped his career aged 27

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Arsenal are all too familiar with the consequences of nightmare injury problems and
one cult hero has now revealed how a misdiagnosis ‘stopped’ their career at just 27.

Fans can only wonder what may have been possible had Eduardo not sustained a broken left fibula and an open dislocation of his left ankle at Birmingham City in February 2008. Arsenal supporters can also only wonder what Abou Diaby may have achieved without his problems.

The Gunners headed to St Andrew’s five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after 26 games. But losing Eduardo for the next 18 months while the Croatian required two operations plus a metal plate saw Arsenal miss out on the title after losing their star striker.

Another dark day in May 2006 also blighted Arsenal’s history when Diaby suffered a horrific broken leg at Sunderland. It would also mark the start of his frequent visits to the treatment room at London Colney. The Frenchman would only play 180 games in nine years at Arsenal.

Arsenal cult hero Yaya Sanogo admits Middlesbrough’s misdiagnosis ‘stopped’ his career

But only speculation that Yaya Sanogo had a shoulder injury ‘stopped me completely’ at just 27 years old. The striker, who helped Arsenal end their nine-year wait for a major trophy by winning the FA Cup in 2014, never had the injury which Middlesbrough thought they found.

READ MORE: All Arsenal legends in the Premier League Hall of Fame from Henry to Wenger

Sanogo was all set to join Middlesbrough in 2020 after his contract with Toulouse expired. It was not to be, however, as Boro believed he required surgery for an injury that specialists in France failed to find. It also put other sides off a deal before he joined Huddersfield in 2021.

“In 2020, I was supposed to sign for Middlesbrough,” Sanogo told Eurosport. “All the details of the contract were tied up. It was at the time of Covid, after my three seasons at Toulouse. I spent 14 days in quarantine without being able to meet anyone.

“Once this period was over, I did the visit. They supposedly detected a problem with my shoulder that required an operation and three months of rehabilitation, according to them. It was serious, it was hard.

“I went to see a shoulder specialist once I got home. They told me that I had nothing at all and that they had put it on the wrong way. That stopped me in my tracks. For the other clubs, I was injured.

“The worst part of all this was that the press wrote that I failed the medical. So, the other clubs that were interested believed it and that stopped me completely. I was 27.”

Yaya Sanogo is now playing in the Chinese League One for Qingdao Red Lions

Sanogo spent four years at Emirates Stadium and helped add the FA Cup to Arsenal’s trophy cabinet in his debut season. The Frenchman came from Arsene Wenger’s bench and caused issues in Hull City’s area. His touch to Oliver Giroud also led to Aaron Ramsey’s winning goal.

Wenger would only give Sanogo 20 appearances during his time in N5, which led to one goal and two assists. His best day in a Gunners kit came against SL Benfica in August 2014 when the forward scored four goals in an Emirates Cup match, including a hat-trick in the first half.

Three terms at Toulouse then followed for the Frenchman, before the problems of his injury misdiagnosis by Middlesbrough threatened Sanogo’s career. His respite at Huddersfield also lasted just four months before taking two years out of the sport until FC Urartu came calling.

Sanogo moved to Armenia in January 2023 and later headed on to China with Qingdao Red Lions this February. At 31 years old, the forward is relishing regular minutes for the Chinese League One club. He has six goals and one assist in 15 appearances with the squad thus far.