Signed Mamadou Sangaré (Mid, Lens, 24)

[malkay]

While we all wait, here's a little comment from the past and glimpse into the present and future from his highlight reel

 

[TugaBee]

Had never heard of him.
But the feedback I’ve been getting is exciting!

 

[kaebess]

Here you go:
View attachment 67638

Considering the two are both 100 million + players that looks fantastic for less than half the price. PG and the whole team, we doff our cap again.

 

[bexleybee]

Ticks closer to top of hour
Refreshes social media feed
Closes phone
Rinse repeat

 

[fencer/bee]

The hold up could be half a day they take shooting a presentation joining the club

 

[Les Beeavinu]

My guess is we won't get an announcement until Monday.

Admin work at weekends.

 

[To Bee Someone]

Ticks closer to top of hour
Refreshes social media feed
Closes phone
Rinse repeat

Whitney Houston?

 

[nick logan]

Whitney Houston?

 

[whyteleafebee76]

You can add in ageing effects too to the projections of stats to next year.

The aging curve changes the story quite a bit, because the three players sit at different stages. The radar above shows the projected 2028/29 picture (solid) with today's levels faint for reference; the saved file has the full now→projected delta table.

The research is consistent: in elite football, explosive traits (carrying, duel intensity, acceleration) peak early (~20–25) and fade first, strength/endurance peak ~25–29, and technical-cognitive skills (passing, positioning, creative distribution) hold into the early 30s. Midfielders peak overall around 26–27. Layering that onto the league-translated stats:

Yarmoliuk (22→25) is the biggest winner — furthest from peak, so he rises almost everywhere, on both the physical and the brain metrics. Over a 3-year window he's the one whose profile expands most.

Sangaré (24→27) is entering his prime. His already-elite ball-winning and carrying are near their ceiling and hold, while the gains land in passing, interceptions, creativity and finishing — which is exactly the "raise the attacking ceiling" upside the scouting reports flagged. He stays clearly ahead of both Brentford players on defensive volume.

Janelt (28→31) heads the other way. The decline concentrates in duels, tackling and dribbling (his explosive/physical numbers), while his passing and positioning largely hold — a classic experienced-recycler aging pattern. The gap between him and the two younger players widens.

Net effect: aging amplifies the current ranking rather than reshuffling it — the two younger players pull further ahead, and Sangaré's edge over Brentford's midfield looks more durable, not less.

The honest caveat, stronger here than before: aging curves describe populations, not individuals. Injuries, minutes, coaching and role changes can override the curve entirely, and I've stacked three layers of modelling now (league translation → aging → percentile mapping), so treat this as a directional scenario, not a forecast.

View attachment 67637

So in summary a younger player has potential to grow, slightly older is likely to be at his peak and slightly older may be on the decline. How do you do it Holmes?

 

[cheekybee74]

Here you go:
View attachment 67638

Thanks. Decent mix of both. Better than Caicedo, with potential to get near to Anderson levels. If that pans out we would be very happy I expect

 

[fiffer]

So in summary a younger player has potential to grow, slightly older is likely to be at his peak and slightly older may be on the decline. How do you do it Holmes?

Someone's had a long day the graph also allows you to see how younger players current level or projected peaks compare to older players that we've relied on for years. Quite interesting if you put a little more effort into thinking and a little less effort into being an Internet comedian.

 

[Jay Bee]

Admin work at weekends.

And I'm sure Dango was unveiled on a Saturday evening too.

 

[Bee(h)Iver]

In case it is of interest to anyone other than me, I asked Claude to compare Sangare on key midfielder analytical stats to Jarmo and Janelt and then use a sort of French Ligue 1 -> EPL deflator to estimate how those stats would look if he performed as well as he did last year but in the Premier League. Below are the outputs:

View attachment 67635

View attachment 67636

Is it just me or does this graphic also indicate that Yarmo is a beast too. If he can add some Xg/Xa to his game then the two of them together will be dominating midfields for years to come! Happy days!

 

[Mr Tree]

Someone's had a long day the graph also allows you to see how younger players current level or projected peaks compare to older players that we've relied on for years. Quite interesting if you put a little more effort into thinking and a little less effort into being an Internet comedian.

It's "quite interesting" yes. But it's only really applying a general dataset onto a specific example. I'm sure Messrs Benham, Giles et al would say, would that it were so simple!

It does all sound exciting, but the proof will be in the pudding. I'm sure there'll be plenty more "Internet comedians" on here if he dares to miscontrol a pass in his first appearance.

 

[Argus]

Here you go:
View attachment 67638

He obviously looks brilliant, but his passing being the weakest part of his game according to this does concern me a bit. It’s not the best part of Yarmo’s game either.

Maybe we’ll be funneling even more of our progression through Dams? That puts a lot of pressure on him staying fit and Milambo/Carvalho being able to stand in for such an important role

 

[TOXIC BEE]

He obviously looks brilliant, but his passing being the weakest part of his game according to this does concern me a bit. It’s not the best part of Yarmo’s game either.

Maybe we’ll be funneling even more of our progression through Dams? That puts a lot of pressure on him staying fit and Milambo/Carvalho being able to stand in for such an important role

It only looks weak-ish on that graph because it’s in comparison to Caicedo and Anderson. Compare it to anyone we have and it’s actually a great improvement.

Sangaré last season averaged 48.4 successful passes per 90, at a success rate of 86.2%. The best we had was Collins with 44.1 per 90 at a success rate of 83.1%.

 

[Kingston Bee]

He obviously looks brilliant, but his passing being the weakest part of his game according to this does concern me a bit. It’s not the best part of Yarmo’s game either.

Maybe we’ll be funneling even more of our progression through Dams? That puts a lot of pressure on him staying fit and Milambo/Carvalho being able to stand in for such an important role

Passing is not a strength? I would say its all irrelavent. Who are we comparing to, we are probably talking different levels to our existing players. So in the end i cannot see how you can compare Sangare to our existing players.

 

[Edmundo]

Successful pass percentages are a strange stat as it ignores the context of the pass. A through ball for a winger to run onto will carry a much lower success rate than a pass from one centre back to another. So what?

 

[aawharris]

He obviously looks brilliant, but his passing being the weakest part of his game according to this does concern me a bit. It’s not the best part of Yarmo’s game either.

Maybe we’ll be funneling even more of our progression through Dams? That puts a lot of pressure on him staying fit and Milambo/Carvalho being able to stand in for such an important role

Lucky we have Jensen

 

[Jay Bee]

Successful pass percentages are a strange stat as it ignores the context of the pass. A through ball for a winger to run onto will carry a much lower success rate than a pass from one centre back to another. So what?

Yes. I recall someone saying one of our midfielders had the lowest pass completion percentage of anyone in the league at one point. but the context is, our attacking play involved long passes to a striker rather than lots of pretty triangles.

 

[Bee in Leeds]

We already have xG and xA, is the GPG ahead of the curve in suggesting xP is required?

 

[Smythy17]

The passing stats also depend heavily on what your role is in that team - if the instructions from the coach is to win the ball and play a short pass to “the playmaker”, your completion may be high, but your key passes may be low. Then a new boss comes in and wants you to be the creator, the opposite can play out.

Love all the stats stuff and would be great to see more… but also trust MB and his team’s models and projections are unimaginable compared to what we can see! We’re a lucky fanbase

 

[beebopalula]

Looks like a good deal. However l'm not raising my expectations. Let's see him in action at prem league level. It's a world apart from what he's used to including fitness level.He also has to bed in to a new environment and it will be challenging as we know well.If he has a slow start l won't be surprised.

 

[marvelous007]

Looks like a good deal. However l'm not raising my expectations. Let's see him in action at prem league level. It's a world apart from what he's used to including fitness level.He also has to bed in to a new environment and it will be challenging as we know well.If he has a slow start l won't be surprised.

I agree but I much rather be in our postion than the river rats down the road/Thames!.

 

[Oldboy TW8 0AW]

Mamadou Sangarè, when you have signed on that dotted line, you will be welcomed by all associated with this great footballclub.
As I am typing this, I look at a painting celebrating 100 years at Griffin Park (2004) with ex legends painted on their.
Beecome Brentford's next legend!
COYB's ️🖊

 

[EastBilneyBee]

View: https://x.com/skysportslyall/status/2082488593424040062?s=46&t=SQP7mje7Pimu8X-ugPnQnQ

Surprised if we're 'long-term admirers' of him; if that's the case, why didn't we bid last year for him at £8million? (NOT knocking the poster, just the article quoted)

 

[EastBilneyBee]

Yeah but he had a sore back

.....similar to the one Gustavo Nunes had, I wonder?

 

[hardybee]

Has he had his medical yet?

 

[FJBee]

Surprised if we're 'long-term admirers' of him; if that's the case, why didn't we bid last year for him at £8million? (NOT knocking the poster, just the article quoted)

I would imagine we are. Last year he’d have been back up quality at best but we probably saw big potential. However we were well stocked in young midfielders so we’d buy him and he’d have no role to play.

Now a year on he’s come on leaps and bounds and we must think he’ll play a very big role.

I’d be surprised if we sign many / any players that we were only monitoring for a short time.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Has he had his medical yet?

Yesterday although not known whether the club has the results.

 

[JANORAK]

Successful pass percentages are a strange stat as it ignores the context of the pass. A through ball for a winger to run onto will carry a much lower success rate than a pass from one centre back to another. So what?

Lewis Dunk manages about 2000 passes every season. Whilst a lot are successful, I believe very few are actually constructive!

 

[Yiggy]

Has he had his medical yet?

I believe so yes based on an ITK comment made yesterday. Nothing has happened to suggest there is a problem. Just not ready to announce yet.

 

[joebee]

The hold up could be half a day they take shooting a presentation joining the club

Any problems with the shoot just let me know i can help.

 

[EastBilneyBee]

Would he speak any ? Look like he’s moved to a mixture of Austria and Belgium in 2000 but before that presume he lived in Mali where they speak French and a number of other local languages I think

Do we have any French speakers ? Possibly Dango and maybe this chap speaks German so we have a couple of them Janet and he new centre back

.....not forgetting KS, of course

 

[TOXIC BEE]

Says here all wrapped up and likely to be officially announced tomorrow


View: https://x.com/sebnonda/status/2083234557210275948?s=46&t=ukjgrzYFeJbPTMwvOO1efQ

 

[andyrew]

Says here all wrapped up and likely to be officially announced tomorrow


View: https://x.com/sebnonda/status/2083234557210275948?s=46&t=ukjgrzYFeJbPTMwvOO1efQ

... unless Ctystal Palace make a last minute bid?

 

[Bumbling fool]

If I were an admin I'd be soooo tempted to change the tag to "gone elsewhere" just to watch everyone wet themselves

 

[ChesilB]

If I were an admin I'd be soooo tempted to change the tag to "gone elsewhere" just to watch everyone wet themselves

Already been done. A swift mod response saw it banished into history. Not sure if poster was banished either!

 

[readingbee]

If I were an admin I'd be soooo tempted to change the tag to "gone elsewhere" just to watch everyone wet themselves

Some idiot did that on another thread yesterday. Not a clever or amusing thing to do TBH.

 

[swr22]

He obviously looks brilliant, but his passing being the weakest part of his game according to this does concern me a bit. It’s not the best part of Yarmo’s game either.
Maybe we’ll be funneling even more of our progression through Dams? That puts a lot of pressure on him staying fit and Milambo/Carvalho being able to stand in for such an important role

I would be a lot more relaxed about this. The stats I have already shared shows that he is already pretty great on duels and pressing and being something of a beast in the engine room. In terms of passing, I think his role at Lens was more to win the ball, turn quickly and pass forward very vertically and quickly. That likely means fewer 'successful' passes, but his progressive passing is very impressive indeed.

If you look at the below I asked to put the Sqwaka stat about successful passes into the final third into some context. The stat is useful because it shows how well he can break lines with passes in the most compacted area of the pitch. Because of his role at Lens with quick breaks, you might expect the number to come down a little if we face more teams who stay discipline in a mid- or low-block, but the numbers are still spectular (see below).

In summary, I think you could say that he is already a better 6 than Vitaly, a better 8 than Yarmo (who also stands to look amazing) and as good at progressive passing as Dams! That's pretty good from where I sit!!

Evidence:

Sangaré attempted 16.9 final third passes per 90 and completed 13.27 of those, with both figures ranking second among the Lens squad — only Florian Thauvin, Lens' main attacking outlet, ranked ahead of him on both metrics. SquawkaSquawka

A direct EPL translation already exists — via Brentford

A Squawka piece built exactly this comparison because Sangaré had been linked with Brentford as a potential Jordan Henderson replacement. Their finding: Sangare attempted and completed more passes per 90 than any Brentford player in the Premier League last season among players with at least 1,710 minutes (50%) played. Specifically on final-third passing, he would have ranked third for final third passes attempted per 90, behind only Mikkel Damsgaard and Mathias Jensen, and second behind Damsgaard for final third passes completed. SquawkaSquawka

So within that squad context, Damsgaard is the closest equivalent — he's the one player who'd have out-passed Sangaré into the final third on both attempted and completed numbers.


How that stacks up against the wider EPL picture

Looking at league-wide 2025/26 numbers for players known for progressive passing, the raw per-90 figures look quite different from Sangaré's:

• Granit Xhaka (Sunderland) averaged 7.25 completed passes into the final third per 90 minutes, placing him in the 80-95th percentile Squawka
• Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest) recorded 7.34 completed passes into the final third per 90, alongside 15.39 accurate forward passes per 90, and led the Premier League with 80 fouls won in the same data set, giving a sense of how heavily involved he is generally SquawkaSquawka
• On the defensive side, Marcos Senesi ranks first in the Premier League for passes into the final third, showing centre-backs can also top this chart depending on system Premier League

That ~7 completed-per-90 range for Xhaka/Anderson sits well below Sangaré's 13.27. That gap is bigger than I'd expect from league quality alone, so it likely reflects a data/definition mismatch rather than Sangaré being dramatically better than every progressive EPL midfielder — different providers (or different zone/pass-type definitions) can produce quite different baselines even for a stat that sounds identical. Lens's structure (building through midfield with heavy final-third circulation) may also just generate more attempts than a typical EPL side's approach.

Bottom line on "closest equivalent"

• If we trust the Brentford-specific translation: Mikkel Damsgaard is the nearest match, statistically ahead of where Sangaré's numbers would slot in.
• If we're going off broader raw per-90 volume across the league: Elliot Anderson is the best stylistic comparison — a progressive, high-passing-volume central midfielder whose profile (forward passing, final-third involvement, high overall activity) most resembles what Sangaré does at Lens — even though Anderson's raw per-90 count is lower, which is more likely a measurement artifact than a true gap in end product.

Given the definitional caveat, I'd treat the Anderson comparison as the more meaningful stylistic equivalent, and the Damsgaard one as the more literal "how would his raw numbers rank on this specific squad" answer.

 

[Bumbling fool]

Already been done. A swift mod response saw it banished into history. Not sure if poster was banished either!

Some idiot did that on another thread yesterday. Not a clever or amusing thing to do TBH.

Glad I didn't see this with my heart condition!

 

[Old B]

Some idiot did that on another thread yesterday. Not a clever or amusing thing to do TBH.

I thought it was quite amusing to be honest, although I appreciate we all have a different sense of humour.

 

[ChesilB]

Glad I didn't see this with my heart condition!

I think only a couple did see it and it had the impact I think the poster desired. Probably thought it was funny but the signing is far too important to mess with. Anyway, it was removed very, very, very quickly!

 

[ChesilB]

I thought it was quite amusing to be honest, although I appreciate we all have a different sense of humour.

May have been if we hadn't been burnt by Brennan Johnson and Archie Gray. Many posters were clearly stressing that this could happen again. If poster had read the room, it probably wasn't the wisest post.

 

[wokinghambee]

Looks like a good deal. However l'm not raising my expectations. Let's see him in action at prem league level. It's a world apart from what he's used to including fitness level.He also has to bed in to a new environment and it will be challenging as we know well.If he has a slow start l won't be surprised.

The voice of reason

 

[SH]

I would be a lot more relaxed about this. The stats I have already shared shows that he is already pretty great on duels and pressing and being something of a beast in the engine room. In terms of passing, I think his role at Lens was more to win the ball, turn quickly and pass forward very vertically and quickly. That likely means fewer 'successful' passes, but his progressive passing is very impressive indeed.

If you look at the below I asked to put the Sqwaka stat about successful passes into the final third into some context. The stat is useful because it shows how well he can break lines with passes in the most compacted area of the pitch. Because of his role at Lens with quick breaks, you might expect the number to come down a little if we face more teams who stay discipline in a mid- or low-block, but the numbers are still spectular (see below).

In summary, I think you could say that he is already a better 6 than Vitaly, a better 8 than Yarmo (who also stands to look amazing) and as good at progressive passing as Dams! That's pretty good from where I sit!!

Evidence:

Sangaré attempted 16.9 final third passes per 90 and completed 13.27 of those, with both figures ranking second among the Lens squad — only Florian Thauvin, Lens' main attacking outlet, ranked ahead of him on both metrics. SquawkaSquawka

A direct EPL translation already exists — via Brentford

A Squawka piece built exactly this comparison because Sangaré had been linked with Brentford as a potential Jordan Henderson replacement. Their finding: Sangare attempted and completed more passes per 90 than any Brentford player in the Premier League last season among players with at least 1,710 minutes (50%) played. Specifically on final-third passing, he would have ranked third for final third passes attempted per 90, behind only Mikkel Damsgaard and Mathias Jensen, and second behind Damsgaard for final third passes completed. SquawkaSquawka

So within that squad context, Damsgaard is the closest equivalent — he's the one player who'd have out-passed Sangaré into the final third on both attempted and completed numbers.


How that stacks up against the wider EPL picture

Looking at league-wide 2025/26 numbers for players known for progressive passing, the raw per-90 figures look quite different from Sangaré's:

• Granit Xhaka (Sunderland) averaged 7.25 completed passes into the final third per 90 minutes, placing him in the 80-95th percentile Squawka
• Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest) recorded 7.34 completed passes into the final third per 90, alongside 15.39 accurate forward passes per 90, and led the Premier League with 80 fouls won in the same data set, giving a sense of how heavily involved he is generally SquawkaSquawka
• On the defensive side, Marcos Senesi ranks first in the Premier League for passes into the final third, showing centre-backs can also top this chart depending on system Premier League

That ~7 completed-per-90 range for Xhaka/Anderson sits well below Sangaré's 13.27. That gap is bigger than I'd expect from league quality alone, so it likely reflects a data/definition mismatch rather than Sangaré being dramatically better than every progressive EPL midfielder — different providers (or different zone/pass-type definitions) can produce quite different baselines even for a stat that sounds identical. Lens's structure (building through midfield with heavy final-third circulation) may also just generate more attempts than a typical EPL side's approach.

Bottom line on "closest equivalent"

• If we trust the Brentford-specific translation: Mikkel Damsgaard is the nearest match, statistically ahead of where Sangaré's numbers would slot in.
• If we're going off broader raw per-90 volume across the league: Elliot Anderson is the best stylistic comparison — a progressive, high-passing-volume central midfielder whose profile (forward passing, final-third involvement, high overall activity) most resembles what Sangaré does at Lens — even though Anderson's raw per-90 count is lower, which is more likely a measurement artifact than a true gap in end product.

Given the definitional caveat, I'd treat the Anderson comparison as the more meaningful stylistic equivalent, and the Damsgaard one as the more literal "how would his raw numbers rank on this specific squad" answer.

I think the most exciting aspect of this signing is that it ensures Damsgaard receives the ball 10 yards (or more) further up the pitch than if it was Henderson - or even Nørgaard - delivering the pass. Mikkel will be significantly more dangerous as a result. He’s going to shine.

Keith’s “energyball” approach is going to cause mayhem this season

 

[Greybeard]

Looks like a good deal. However l'm not raising my expectations. Let's see him in action at prem league level. It's a world apart from what he's used to including fitness level.He also has to bed in to a new environment and it will be challenging as we know well.If he has a slow start l won't be surprised.

The french league is physical but not as intense and consistently demanding as the EPL. Moreover players don't come under the same goldfish bowl scrutiny week by week as they do here. So yes he will probably find the step up a bit challenging at first.

But he's not a raw youngster and he does sound quite tough both physically and mentally. I expect him to be productive at least more or less straight away.

 

[jonny c]

Looks like a good deal. However l'm not raising my expectations. Let's see him in action at prem league level. It's a world apart from what he's used to including fitness level.He also has to bed in to a new environment and it will be challenging as we know well.If he has a slow start l won't be surprised.

Fitness level? N'Golo Kante begs to differ, for one!

 

[Ioweddie]

Hope he don't get booked a lot

 

[hobbsy]

I think only a couple did see it and it had the impact I think the poster desired. Probably thought it was funny but the signing is far too important to mess with. Anyway, it was removed very, very, very quickly!

Mitigations have been put in place to prevent this from happening again.