This summer, we are running a series profiling 50 exciting players under the age of 25 — who they are, how they play, and why they are attracting interest during this transfer window.
You can find all our profiles so far here.
Right-footed left-wingers are becoming a trademark of French football.
Advertisement
Robert Pires and Thiery Henry, both once of Arsenal, defined the 2000s. Franck Ribery was one of the best inverted wingers of the 2010s. Kylian Mbappe is among the best players in the world today.
GO DEEPER
'She's like fire': How Mbappe's mum became one of football's toughest dealmakers
Armand Lauriente is far from reaching the levels attained by those four, but he did show significant promise at Serie A side Sassuolo last season. Paris-born Lauriente spent time at French football’s famed Clairefontaine academy, where he was Mbappe’s room-mate, before rising through the youth ranks at Rennes.
His route to Italy came via Orleans and then — brilliantly, considering his name — Lorient, where he scored 13 goals and assisted 13 more in 91 appearances (61 starts) across three seasons and was part of their Ligue 2 title-winning side in 2019-20.
Lauriente operated mostly as a right-winger for Lorient. His speed, direct running and individualistic attacking style suited their counter-attacking approach.
“I’m lucky in that I’m quite fast, so I don’t need that many tricks to be able to beat my man,” Lauriente, now 24, said earlier this season.
In 2021-22, he had the most shots, successful dribbles, chance-creating carries and progressive passes received in the Lorient squad. Then, in his first season with Sassuolo, he led them in all of those same metrics except for shots, where he ranked fourth. His 49 chance-creating carries — defined by Opta as dribbles of five-plus metres that end in a shot/key pass — were third-most in Serie A, only bettered by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of title-bound Napoli and AC Milan’s Rafael Leao.
“He has an important ability in one-on-ones and you can exploit his qualities even more with opponents who play man to man,” Sassuolo head coach Alessio Dionisi said last season.
His goal against Atalanta in February is a perfect example of this: driving inside from the left wing and firing the ball into the far corner.
“I don’t have a favourite position to score from but I often find myself in a similar spot. I’m a right-footer playing off the left, so I often shift onto my right to shoot,” Lauriente said last season.
Advertisement
Even on the run, his striking technique is clean. He translates his dribbling speed into shot power, hitting the ball with his laces and following through to land on the same foot. Note how straight his plant (left) leg is as he makes contact, maximising the power transfer.
“I want to be even more incisive, to take my game to the next level. I want to be as effective as I can in every match,” said Lauriente earlier this pre-season. Refining his shot selection, and picking when and where to dribble are the first steps to achieving that. Over the past three seasons, he has taken almost as many shots from outside the opposition penalty area (106) as inside it (108).
Below are two examples from last season, against Juventus and Napoli, where Lauriente is isolated and outnumbered but he still tries to dribble inside, runs into traffic, and gets tackled.
He was the seventh-most dispossessed player in Serie A last season (53) — more than twice as many as Domenico Berardi (23), the right-winger in Sassuolo’s 4-3-3, suffered while playing only 300 fewer minutes.
His hunched-over dribbling style is similar to that of Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli — Lauriente can be more effective than aesthetically pleasing — but he uses both feet and his various other surfaces well to manipulate the ball. His best attribute in these situations is adjusting his speed to disorientate defenders before accelerating past them.
Lauriente’s physical profile makes him effective at running in behind opposing full-backs.
Here, at home to Verona last October, Lauriente makes an out-to-in run behind Isak Hien onto Pedro Obiang’s through ball…
…and scores Sassuolo’s equaliser in a match they go on to win, 2-1.
He then sets up their equaliser in the 1-1 draw at home to Roma a couple of weeks later with a remarkably similar run, this time getting behind wing-back Rick Karsdorp. His left-back Georgios Kyriakopoulos supplies the pass…
…and Lauriente assists Andrea Pinamonti with a left-footed cutback.
“He is reminiscent of (Sassuolo’s 2018-22 winger Jeremie) Boga in some respects but has a more effective finishing. For me, he can become even stronger if he can find consistency during the game,” said Dionisi.
Consistency, or a lack of end-product, is often a critique of wingers.
Advertisement
Lauriente did not score or assist in his final nine Serie A appearances (eight starts) of 2022-23 before missing the last three matches through injury but had two purple patches earlier in his debut year there: two goals and two assists in his first six games after an August 31 move from Lorient and then an excellent mid-season spell which helped lift Sassuolo clear of the relegation zone.
Between January 29 and March 12, Lauriente scored five and assisted three in six appearances. During that time, Sassuolo went from 17th in the 20-team division and five points above the bottom three to 12th and 17 points clear (they finished 13th, with a 14-point cushion above the drop zone).
The first of those goals was a penalty in a 5-2 demolition of Milan at San Siro, which he won with another out-to-in run behind the right-back.
With Milan mid-block defending, Lauriente stays in Davide Calabria’s blind spot, timing his run onto Hamed Traore’s through ball:
He gets his body between Calabria and the ball — he isn’t the biggest but is physical with defenders — and is fouled before he can shoot.
Four games later, Lauriente was involved in all three goals in the 3-2 home win over Cremonese.
He opened the scoring with a powerful free kick, generating plenty of topspin to beat the goalkeeper, despite the shot being fairly central.
This threat from free kicks is another asset — see his goal for Lorient against Saint-Etienne, a 40-yard beamer versus Nantes (both in 2020-21) and his final goal for the Brittany club away to Toulouse last August.
WHAT KIND OF SORCERY IS THIS?!?! 🤯😲
Armand Laurienté has scored one of the best free-kicks you will 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 see! 🤩
Pack your bags and go home. The Lorient forward has completed football. pic.twitter.com/Kzy1yw7pQP
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 21, 2021
His 92nd-minute assist for the winner that day against Cremonese was Henry-esque.
Advertisement
Sassuolo attack quickly from a defensive-third regain, playing through the midfield and in to the feet of the high-and-wide Lauriente.
The winger drives towards the box, but gets his head up and spots an unmarked Nedim Bajrami at the back post. With the outside of the right foot, he curls over a cross…
…which Bajrami volleys into the top corner.
In a 4-3 away victory over Roma the following weekend, he scored twice in the first 18 minutes and set up Pinamonti for what proved the winner midway through the second half.
Sassuolo’s style suits Lauriente. They ranked second in Serie A last season for direct attacks — defined by Opta as a possession that starts in a team’s defensive half and results in a shot or touch inside the opposition penalty area within 15 seconds. His pace and individualism make him effective against disorganised defences but can see him struggle against low blocks.
None of the grabs above show a full-back overlapping Lauriente or combining with him in the final third — because they rarely do. This is partly because Sassuolo are not an expansive team, but Lauriente’s self-reliant style also gives his left-back little incentive. This leads to the French winger becoming isolated and outnumbered when opponents double up against him.
Here is an example against Inter Milan last October, when Lauriente receives out wide, and Brazilian left-back Rogerio overlaps him…
But Lauriente still drives inside, where Inter have bodies waiting…
Under pressure, his shot is blocked…
Ultimately, 13 goal involvements (seven goals, six assists) represent a strong first season in Serie A. Berardi (12 and seven) was the only Sassuolo player to better either of those numbers.
There is an Italian saying “Chi non fa, non falla” — ‘he who does nothing makes no mistakes.’ And Lauriente’s style sums up that proverb.
Advertisement
Yet to be capped at senior level after making a couple of under-21s appearances while with Lorient, he could put himself in contention for Didier Deschamps’ European Championship squad next summer if he builds on last season in the months ahead.
France can always find room for a right-footed left winger.
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Rachel Orr)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k3BqbmtgaXxzfJFsZmlwX2WAcIGPZquoZaeWwaS0jJqpppmemXqtrdSroJ6mpJp8