'The sky is the limit': How Brentford found Mamadou Sangare, a diamond in an inflated Premier League market

The market for midfielders has never been so expensive in the Premier League. Of the league's top ten signings in the transfer window that has just closed, seven are midfielders. Three of them (Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali) cost more than £100m. None, however, has shone as brightly as a young Brentford player who cost less than half that amount.

Mamadou Sangare was one of the least talked-about transfers of the window. He arrived for a club-record fee for the Bees, £33m, an amount that may only seem large within the reality of the west London club. His impact in just two matchdays, however, already shows that it was a bargain paid to Lens.

The defensive midfielder, born in Mali, needed little time to show that he has all the makings of a target for the biggest clubs in English football. He is already being talked up as a player the Big Six's scouting departments allowed to slip through the net. The excitement may seem premature given how little he has played, but it is justified.

Sangare outshone Tottenham's millionaire midfield

So far, Sangare has shown he can do it all in midfield: as a No 5, a No 8 or even a No 10. Deeper on the pitch, he has shown quality with short dribbles and the physical strength to escape pressure and direct attacks. Further forward, he has shown attacking power and technical quality. Off the ball, he is an aggressive player who steps up the press and forces duels.

On his Premier League debut, a 3-0 win over Tottenham, the 24-year-old showed exactly what he had come for. He dictated the tempo even against an opponent that had invested heavily in precisely his position, with Tottenham fielding the midfield pairing of Tonali, the third most expensive midfielder of the window, and Matheus Fernandes, who cost £85m.

The new team-mate of Brazilian forward Igor Thiago at Brentford was decisive in building the scoreline against Spurs. After just 11 minutes, he received the ball in midfield, played a one-two with Dango Ouattara to burst into the box and delivered a perfectly weighted cross for Keane Lewis-Potter. In the second half, he appeared in the box to shoot from a corner and force the rebound that led to Michael Kayode's third goal of the afternoon.

"I think the club deserve a lot of credit for getting that deal done. A lot of clubs, I'm sure, were looking at Mamadou," said Bees head coach Keith Andrews after the win over Tottenham.

A performance of that level, against elite players established in the biggest league in the world, sent a message. And it was a message that continued in the matches that followed. In the League Cup, even with limited time off the bench, he shone. From a short corner, he appeared at the edge of the box to control the ball with his right foot (his weaker foot) and cross perfectly with his left for Nathan Collins' goal.

In the 1-1 draw with a stubborn Leeds United side last weekend, he continued to be decisive going forward. It was from a shot of his, blocked at the edge of the box, that the ball fell to Lewis-Potter, who set up Kevin Schade's goal.

"He's adapted really, really well. You never truly know — different league, different language, even though his English is pretty impeccable. Just a humble young man that's very, very hungry," said Andrews.

At the end of two matchdays in the biggest league in the world, Sangare ranks among the leaders in tackles (six), interceptions (five), key passes (four) and ground duels won (11). These are numbers that illustrate how the player dominates different areas of the game. It is a view that former team-mates also share.

'Sangare is a mix of a No 5 and a No 8'

The young Malian began his football journey in his home country and stood out enough to catch the attention of Red Bull, who signed him via Salzburg, in Austria, before loaning him out to FC Liefering, also part of the energy-drink company's network. He went on to play for two more Austrian clubs, as well as Belgium's Zulte Waregem, before establishing himself at Rapid Vienna, where he was already turning heads.

"He is very strong technically, he can dribble and always finds solutions in very, very tight spaces," said Markus Katzer, the Vienna club's CEO, in a feature on the player by The Athletic. "The way he wins the ball back is his greatest quality. He is a mix of a No 5 and a No 8."

It was in the Austrian capital that Sangare received his first call-up to the Mali national team, under former head coach Tom Saintfiet. "He is the new star, the new diamond of Malian football," said the coach, who remained in charge of Mali until last April, in the same feature.

After shining in Vienna, the midfielder made the leap to a major European league. In just one season at Lens, he was named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Season for the club's runners-up campaign and was sold for almost four times what he had cost.

There, even with players from giants PSG as competition, he led the league in average defensive contributions per 90 minutes (14.2), a number that would also have made him the leader in last season's Premier League.

His strong form at Brentford is a continuation of what has been happening over the past few years. If he keeps up this pace, the young Malian international has every chance of becoming one of the most talked-about names in the next transfer window.

"Given the quality he has and how young he is, the sky is the limit for Sangare," recalled Roland Puchas, spokesman for Austrian club TSV Hartberg, whom the midfielder once represented, also speaking to The Athletic.