Yaya Sanogo
Yaya Sanogo celebrates with Aaron Ramsey for Arsenal. [Reuters]

Arsene Wenger has admitted he took somewhat of a gamble by signing Yaya Sanogo in the summer but has tipped the youngster to become a prolific marksman for Arsenal in the coming years.

The long serving Gunners boss is a firm believer in the talent Sanogo possesses but was concerned about the injuries that had plagued his development in France.

The 20 year old was almost forced to quit the game after fracturing his tibia and breaking down on numerous occasions while trying to recover from the injury. He would miss more than 17 months of action but would impress for Auxerre when fully fit.

Sanogo was signed by Arsenal after becoming a free agent and Wenger is confident that the gamble will pay off as he predicts a bright future for the powerful France Under-20 striker.

"He's a bit of a gamble," explained Wenger on the club's official website. "Not because of his talent and quality, but because of the injuries he's had. Basically for two years he didn't play.

"But I spoke to him very early in the year, back in January, and told him that I would give him a chance at Arsenal. He has the qualities, the size and strength, so I think he will be all right.

"But we know we have to build him up, because a guy who has not played for two years at that level needs some adaptation time to get his body ready for the physical intensity. We need to be patient with him.

"He is a traditional number nine, but he's a technical player as well. He uses his body well, has a good presence in the box and has the nose to know where to be on the pitch. The ball always goes to him.

"He can be a prolific goalscorer and a huge talent. Overall he has a great desire to improve and to win. What he needs now is for his body to not give him any problems, and what we need to do is get his body into the right condition.

"For me it will take six months or so of work before we really see what he can do."

Sanogo has already made his Premier League debut when replacing Lukas Podolski in the 3-1 win against Fulham back in August but he has since failed to earn another opportunity in the first team.

However, with Olivier Giroud and Nicklas Bendtner the only senior strikers at Wenger's disposal, Sanogo may well have further opportunities this season to show his boss exactly why he wasn't a gamble.