Who is Morgan Sanson? What you need to know about the star Marseille midfielder

The Premier League sides are looking for reinforcements and it seems that many clubs have set their sights on Marseille midfielder Morgan Sanson.

The Frenchman has long attracted interest from England teams of various shapes and sizes, but as the final year of his contract approaches, there are rumors that we could finally be close to seeing Sanson in England.

Here is everything you need to know about him.

When Sanson broke through at Le Mans at 18, it seemed like he had the world at his feet. He seemed destined to become a superstar.

Links to the Premier League and some of Europe’s top clubs emerged between 2012 and 2014, when Sanson was billed as one of the brightest youngsters in the game, but things have slowed down somewhat.

Four years in Montpellier haven’t brought the most anticipated kind of progression but, at 26, Sanson has put things back on track in Marseille.

It’s no surprise that Sanson was a bit quiet for a season or two during his time in Montpellier, as he had to recover from a nasty cruciate ligament in 2015.

He fell in April and only returned in November, only to injure his knee in January 2016, which kept him away for another two months.

He admits that building up and learning how to deal with the physicality of Ligue 1 has been a real struggle for him, but it’s safe to say he’s now moved on to the other side.

The recent resurgence of Sanson can largely be attributed to the fact that he actually understood what kind of a player he is.

During his time at Montpellier, Sanson was deployed throughout the midfield, playing deep, offensive and broad roles when needed. Thanks to his versatile skills, he did everything right, but now he has the chance to play from his privileged position in the central midfield.

“I would say that I am an 8, a player who likes to launch forward, but also to recover the ball to revive cleanly, in the heart of the field,” he told Foot Mercato.

In his preferred position, Sanson can showcase all of his skills, but his bread and butter start the counters.

With exceptional stamina, Sanson loves to put pressure on his opponents and is incredibly reliable in the tackle, but the fun really starts once he gets the ball back.

You’ll regularly see Sanson taking on a successful challenge and instantly looking forward, and he’s never afraid to use his pass range to throw a block. Do not attack in the blink of an eye.

Sanson openly admits that André Villas-Boas’s arrival in Marseille last summer is the reason he’s still at the French club, and he’s in no rush to leave now.

His agent told 20 Minutes: “For Morgan, his priority is Marseille. But he remains ready to listen to offers, as long as they are in line with his sporting ambitions. Morgan has been approached a lot, but he won’t leave if from a football point of view what is on offer is not better than in Marseille. His goal is not to make more money, but to improve in his football.

He currently enjoys the one-sided life in the Champions League football hunt so it might take something special to attract him.

Sanson may not be rushing for the exit door in Marseille, but he has admitted in the past that he will listen to any Premier League offers.

“What I like is the enthusiasm around this league,” he told So Foot. “The stadiums are full for all matches. They eat and sleep at football.

“It’s not the only league that attracts me, but there is great overall quality, so yeah, it attracts me.”

For someone with Sanson’s versatility, it’s no surprise to learn that the midfielder has modeled his game on a handful of different players.

“As a child I was a fan of Kaka and Ronaldinho,” he said. “I tried to be inspired by them, same for [Andres] Iniesta after. “

In other interviews, he’s also named Wayne Rooney and Luka Modric as two more of his inspirations, so it’s not hard to see where his jack-of-all-trades style of play comes from.

Earlier in his career Sanson wore Nike shoes exclusively, but the summer of 2018 saw him switch to Puma as he felt Nike’s shoes weren’t protective enough for a player in his place.

“For a very long time I had a heel issue that started playing with Nike Tiempo and that’s why heel comfort is so important to me,” he told Foot Pack. . “I then switched to Magista but the problem never really went away.

“Since the start of the season with Puma, I haven’t felt that pain anymore, which is a big positive for me. Beyond all the marketing aspects that I like about Puma, they especially convinced me with the product that is essential to me as a professional player. “

Sanson’s move to Marseille has not been really received positively, as a handful of tweets have emerged suggesting the midfielder is in fact a fan of PSG’s big rivals.

He was even spotted in a PSG jersey but has repeatedly insisted that he has never supported the French side.

Sanson told La Provence: “Marseille supporters may wonder. But I have never been a lover of Paris or a supporter of PSG. A lot of the things that have been said are wrong. “

Sure.

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