“You understand why I pushed so hard to keep him last summer and why he is the first name on my matchday squad,” Christophe Pélissier told journalists gathered ahead of AJ Auxerre’s final match of the season against Lille OSC. While the team is filled with precocious talents, there was only one player that the wily manager could have been talking about, the star of his team and the man who propelled their fight for survival: Lassine Sinayoko.
For much of this campaign, Auxerre’s hopes for remaining in Ligue 1 had almost solely been carried on the shoulders of the Mali international. And it was to be no different last night when they travelled to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy for a do-or-die fixture. A win over Lille would secure survival, a draw or defeat would open the door for Nice to escape the relegation playoff spot.
With Nice hosting an already relegated FC Metz side and Auxerre up against UEFA Champions League chasers, there was an added pressure to the tie; a sense that the fight was far from level for the two teams and that there was a real possibility that the relegation playoff spot could come leaping up to reclaim Auxerre. In the end, what had promised to be a tight fight until the end would not come to pass. Nice would be held to a goalless stalemate, while Auxerre would win 2-0 courtesy of a double from the man Pélissier had fought to keep.
From the edge of leaving Auxerre
Sinayoko was so very nearly not an Auxerre player this season. In the summer, RC Lens had scoped out the forward and made him their priority signing for a new look attack. A transfer between the two sides was agreed, and Sinayoko played what was expected to be his final game for Les Diplomates (funnily enough, against Nice, who had courted him for much of the summer) on the 23rd of August before he was scheduled to head north for his medical the very next day.
However, he never arrived. Lens were left in the lurch with head coach Pierre Sage telling reporters, “The management have done everything they had to, have done the procedures that have been asked of them, so the documents are written out. You have to respect what is written.” The deal would collapse to the frustration of Les Sang et Or, with Auxerre keeping hold of their forward.
On the RMC Sport radio programme Rothen s’enflamme, Lens’s sporting director Jean-Louis Leca would angrily allege, “They threatened the player, [they] told him that if he travelled, there would be legal action against him. The kid wanted to come, [but] he didn’t know where to go. He was taken hostage. When we saw this, I said, ‘Stop!’”
Reliance or over-reliance on Lassine Sinayoko?
It would have been very easy for Sinayoko to down tools after his move failed to materialise. Especially amid a season where he watched the side he could have joined compete in a title race and reach the Coupe de France final. Players have gone on strike for less, but to his credit, he acted the consummate professional and, in January, extended his contract until June 2027.
In a way, Sinayoko has been a reflection of the culture that surrounds the club. Like the Auxerre faithful, who have made a point of never wavering in their vocal backing of a team that spent months swirling around the bottom three, Sinayoko never gave up on the fight. He fought tooth and nail to keep his boyhood club in the top flight, scoring 12 goals, nine more than the next closest players.
Auxerre took a bet last summer to rely on his talents, and they were rewarded with survival. However, interest in him was likely not an aberration, and it is difficult to imagine that clubs will not come sniffing for a striker who will soon be entering the final year of his contract. His performances have only made it harder for Les Diplomates to ward off interest, and one has to wonder whether their reliance on his talents will eventually come to look like over-reliance.
This week’s Ligue 1 sub-plots
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Auxerre’s success was Nice’s misery. Les Aiglons began the season in the Champions League, but may end it in Ligue 2. Fury has been directed towards the owners INEOS, whose interest in the club has dropped off since the partial takeover of Manchester United. A shootout with AS Saint-Étienne in the playoffs awaits. Read the full story HERE.
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Olympique de Marseille pulled it out of the bag on the final day of the season as they beat European rivals Stade Rennais 3-1. The win meant that while Champions League football was out of reach, a place in the Europa League could be claimed. Read how it happened HERE.
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There were fears for Paris Saint-Germain when Ousmane Dembélé exited the pitch 30 minutes into the Paris Derby. The forward has been PSG’s talisman across the last two seasons, particularly in the Champions League. With the final against Arsenal fast approaching, PSG supporters awaited news. Read the update on his status HERE.
GFFN | Nick Hartland
