PROFILE | Lassine Sinayoko and a 2025 of highs and lows | OneFootball

With nine goals and seven assists in 2025, Lassine Sinayoko has been AJ Auxerre’s most consistent attacker in 2025. With the summer departures of goal-scoring duo Gaëtan Perrin and Hamed Traorè, AJA have quite simply not scored enough this current season. At the time of writing, the club are Ligue 1’s second-lowest scorers, with marquee striker Sékou Mara failing to register a goal.

Sinayoko ended the 2024/25 season in fine form, registering three goals and four goals in the final six games of the campaign. As a result, the summer window brought significant interest in the 26-year-old. OGC Nice first saw a bid rejected before RC Lens believed they had agreed an €8m deal for Sinayoko, until AJA were accused of keeping the player “hostage”. Whilst the transfer circus was playing out, Sinayoko picked up where he left off. He netted in the first two games of the Ligue 1 2025/26 season – a stunning long-range effort in a 1-0 win over FC Lorient was followed by an astute finish in a 3-1 defeat away at OGC Nice.

Sinayoko’s role evolves

Despite a lack of alternative goal sources, Christophe Pélissier has used Sinayoko in a more versatile role than the out-and-out striker he ended the previous campaign as. Pélissier has increasingly opted for a 4-3-3 setup rather than a 5-4-1 (which, when used at the start of the current campaign, had Sinayoko playing as the lone striker) and the Malian has often featured on the right wing this season.

Although AJA are not a team that particularly focuses on heavy pressing, Sinayoko has embodied the hard work and tenacity that Pélissier has consistently demanded from his attackers during his tenure at the Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps. He ranks among the best in

Ligue 1 forwards for interceptions and posts impressive tackling numbers as well. With the ball, Sinayoko has consistently shown in 2025 his ability to progress it quickly. Either through his dribbling or passing, when Auxerre have found success at the top end of the pitch this season, Sinayoko has so often played a key role.

2025 was Sinayoko’s most fruitful year to date. Having come through the reserve system at AJA, he had been a reliable option since making his professional debut in 2021. After contributing eight goals and four assists during the club’s most recent Ligue 2 promotion campaign, Sinayoko demonstrated in 2025 that he can now compete with the best in France’s top-flight.

GFFN | Ed Marsh