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Player profile: Yannick Djalo

Full name: Yannick Djalo

Position: Forward

Date of Birth: 5 May 1986

Birthplace: Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

Supersonic. Turbo-charged. Rocket-propelled. We could spend all day listing the terms used to describe Yannick Djalo’s biggest asset. Raw speed. Add to this explosive shooting and skilful feet, and it’s easy to understand why so many pundits have predicted a sparkling future for the young Sporting striker.

Yannick Djalo was born in Guinea-Bissau on 5 May 1986 and came to Portugal at seven years of age.

After showing great promise in his local five-a-side team, he continued his football education at Associacao Desportiva da Estacao, a small club from the central Portuguese town of Covilha.

The speed and technical quality of the player caught the attention of a Sporting scout and he was soon on the books of the Lisbon club in exchange for the princely fee of around 2,500 euros.

Coke Wager

He was selected by Sporting’s Romanian coach Laszlo Boloni at just 16 years of age for an end-of-season friendly in 2002 and bet the coach a crate of coca-cola that he would score. Djalo duly obliged and Boloni was forced to take a trip to the local supermarket.

In 2004/05 he was part of Sporting’s youth team that won the national championship under future first-team coach, Paulo Bento. The following season he was loaned out to lower league side Casa Pia, where he netted 16 goals including a remarkable scoring run in eleven consecutive matches.

At 20 years of age the under-21 Portugal international became part of Sporting’s senior squad and has formed an exciting partnership with Brazilian striker Liedson.

Keen to secure the services of a player many believe to be a big star of the future, Sporting were delighted to see Yannick Djalo recently sign a contract extension with a 30-million euro rescission clause.

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Sporting** 24 5

* League only
** Up to 20 May 2007