Tonight:
5°c
Quiet man making a massive impact
Wayne Veysey, Evening Standard23 Oct 2007
Talk to any foreign player new to the Premier League and they admit its sheer pace and intensity comes as a severe shock. Whenever an import is struggling, managers speak of an almost mythical settling-in period.
Asked how Eduardo was adjusting to England last week, Arsene Wenger compared the difference between the Premier League and the Croatian championship as "like going on the motorway from a walkway".
So, what should we make of the duck-to-water progress of Bacary Sagna, Arsenal's other main summer signing?
The Frenchman has not quite torn the rulebook to shreds but he has achieved something beyond even Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires.
Slotting in seamlessly at right-back, he has barely put a foot wrong for his new employers and, as he prepares for his 12th game in red and white against Slavia Prague tonight, he has become as much of a first pick as Gael Clichy on the opposite flank.
The 24-year-old has arguably adapted to the unique demands of the Premier League better than any Arsenal foreign signing - and there have been many - since Patrick Vieira.
"In a sense he's been a dream signing - small noise, big impact," said Wenger. "It was not a big transfer by today's standards but he's shown that he can be a big player. He has impressed everyone with his quality and enthusiasm.
"He has huge potential and can play in several positions. What I like is that he's arrived here and adapted to new challenges with the minimum of fuss."
Back in July when Sagna was signed from Auxerre for a fee that could rise to £7.5million, there was a feeling that he was something of a luxury buy.
The manager already had two right-backs - Emmanuel Eboue and Justin Hoyte - and others such as William Gallas, Kolo Toure and Mathieu Flamini who could fill in there if needed. Two months into a campaign that promises great things for Arsenal and Sagna has demonstrated a combination of Eboue's attacking dynamism and Hoyte's positional adroitness.
Crucially, the Frenchman is more durable and a better tackler than either of his rivals and no one will be happier than Toure, who was often forced to cover two positions during Eboue's frequent defensive lapses.
"I like the style here, I am not the most technical player but I have a good fighting spirit," Sagna said. "I like the contact and everybody knows English football is like this. I feel good in this team and in this country."
Wenger prefers to make stars rather than buy them but Sagna was already regarded as the best right-back in the French league before joining from Auxerre last summer.
He was in Ligue 1's Team of the Year last season and was also voted Auxerre's player of the year. International recognition swiftly followed at the end of last season and Sagna won his second cap 10 days ago as France demolished the Faroe Islands 6-0 to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008.
"I was at a big club at Auxerre, but I need to play more big games to show I can play at this level and I think now if I play for the France team it will be because I am playing for Arsenal," said the full-back.
It can only have helped that Sagna has joined a dressing room where 13 of the players speak French but he is confident in his new home to conduct interviews in English and seems even more of an Anglophile since replacing a braided hair style with a smart crop. Sagna credits pre-season for putting him at ease in his new environment.
"Every day in the training camp in Austria I felt I got better and I started to play in the strongest side in the games we had over there," he said. "Then I was given the chance to start the season and we won the games, so it's good for me."
Good, too, for Arsenal to have signed a player so comfortable in the Premier League fast lane.
