Mahamadou Sangare: The mega-fast goal-machine fresh off the PSG production line who is about to swap Parc des Princes for Man City

Sangare was born in Dionkoulane in northern Mali but grew up in the capital city of Bamako. He began playing football with his neighbourhood friends on sandy fields and from an early age, he recalled, "people were always telling me I was good". His father did not like football at all and wanted his son to study the Koran rather than play football. But he soon realised that football was what Mahamadou loved the most and decided that his best shot at making it as a professional was to take him to France, the hotbed of young talent.

Father and son moved to Cergy to the north of Paris and Sangare was given a trial with Racing Colombes 92 in the capital. He told FranceBleu: "When I came the first day, people were saying, 'He's Malian, he's just arrived, we'll see what he's got'. I remember my first training session. I gave it my all. People were shocked, they said, 'Wow, he's really talented.'"

The day after his trial Sangare was put in the starting line-up for a friendly in Lille and he scored within the first minute. The striker admitted it was a steep learning curve for him in the regimented world of academy football. "I was a bit free on the pitch. I really liked to get loose and touch the ball. So I was always getting loose. And they asked me to work more on playing with my back to goal, pivoting, because that was my weak point."

In 2022 Sangare joined another Paris club in Montrouge, playing for their under-17 side despite being 15. He was utterly prolific, scoring 25 goals and setting up a further five in just 20 matches. He finished top scorer in the division, which was the perfect response to his father. He had initially doubted his ability, telling him "It's not going to work, football isn't for you."

Sangare Senior bought his son a gift to congratulate him on being top scorer and he wasn't the only one impressed with his goal tally, as every self-respecting Ligue 1 club showed their interest in snapping him up. He ultimately chose PSG, signing a youth contract in the summer of 2023 and starting out in the under-19 side. Sangare proved to be just as lethal playing two years above his age group, finishing the campaign with 32 goals.

Rather like the senior team in this season's Champions League, PSG got off to a disappointing start in the Youth League, taking just one point from their first three games. But they had lift off at home to Atletico Madrid, when Sangare demonstrated his prowess on the continental stage with a hat-trick in the space of 17 minutes.

He got the ball rolling with a free-kick strike then nipped into the box to tap in a second from close range. Less than four minutes later he completed his treble from the penalty spot in an eventual 4-2 win. But he was only just getting started in the Youth League.

PSG visited Bayern Munich next and Sangare put them 2-0 up with an astonishing demonstration of his pace, sprinting from his own half to chase a through ball and taking two touches before curling into the bottom corner. He struck twice more in the second half to complete his second hat-trick in as many games, first with a simple tap-in and then by showing quick footwork inside the area to complete a 5-2 drubbing in Bavaria.

Sangare signed off with another goal in the 3-2 defeat at RB Salzburg, taking his tally in the group stage to eight goals, all of which he scored in his last four games. It was not enough for PSG to make it to the knockout stage but Sangare still finished as the joint-top scorer in the competition, despite playing in only six of the potential 11 games.

Sangare began training with PSG's first team squad last December although he is yet to be called into a matchday squad. But his goal exploits in the Youth League meant he was a man in demand and last month it was reported that he had decided against renewing his contract with PSG in order to weigh up options from other clubs. In late April it was reported that he had accepted an offer from Manchester City.

Sangare has incredible pace and a rare ability to keep the ball under control while haring down the pitch towards goal. But as well as a love for terrifying defenders by running at them, he has a knack for arriving in the right place at the right time and sniffing out a goal with his lethal left foot. That is why he is so prolific - he can score beautiful goals and scrappy ones.

"He's a pure centre forward, a real scoring machine," said Anthony Vivien, chairman of Les Titis de PSG, the club's association of young players. "Last year alone, he scored 32 goals in 35 games. He's a rather quiet kid, who talks more when scoring goals than when expressing himself through words. He knows how to get lost in opposing defences, that's his strength. He has a very good reading of the game from deep."

Sangare has admitted to preferring his left foot to his right although he has tried to improve his weaker foot by playing out on the left wing and cutting inside. But he ultimately sees himself as a No.9 rather than a winger. And curiously for a goal-hungry centre-forward, Sangare has an aversion to heading the ball. He said: "I'm a little less good with my head. I don't really like [heading balls], but when it comes, I go for it and give it my all."

The striker also admits he tends to focus on scoring as many goals as possible rather than setting up his team-mates. "I've found my place in front of goal. It's my preferred position," he said. "So even if I don't make assists, the most important thing for a striker is to score goals. As they say, when you're a striker, you have to be selfish. But if I have a partner next to me who is well marked, I prefer to shift him and have him score goals too. It's important."

Sangare's burst of pace and ability to accelerate between tight spaces is similar to Christopher Nkunku, another PSG academy star who decided to move abroad to make his way in the game. Nkunku also used the Youth League as a platform to launch his career, reaching the final in 2015-16 with PSG and losing to Chelsea, one of his future destinations.

Sangare is some years away from competing for a place with Haaland and Omar Marmoush in the City first team so he is likely to spend at least a year in the club's academy to master English football and hone the style of play he will have to get to grips with if he wants to make it at the Etihad Stadium.

City also have the luxury of leaning on their network of clubs across the City Football Group such as Girona in La Liga, Troyes in Ligue 2 or Palermo in Serie B, where they can send Sangare to give him senior experience while being able to monitor him more closely, than were he to go to another club outside of their stable.

But the ultimate goal is for him to push on and repeat his goalscoring feats in the Youth League for PSG in the Champions League for City.