Paris has found an early-season scorer away from the usual lights of Parc des Princes. Lassine Sinayoko, the 26-year-old Mali forward, is making an immediate mark for Paris FC after arriving from Auxerre last summer.
Sinayoko has scored four times in his first five Ligue 1 matches of 2026/27, including the first professional hat-trick of his career in Paris FC’s 3-2 win at Olympique de Marseille. The performance at the Vélodrome put him at the centre of a landmark away result.
Quick facts
- Sinayoko is 26 and joined Paris FC from Auxerre last summer.
- He has four goals from five Ligue 1 appearances in 2026/27.
- His hat-trick helped Paris FC beat Marseille 3-2 at the Vélodrome.
- Paris FC paid €7.5 million and tied him to a contract running until June 2029.
- Leeds United, Brighton and Crystal Palace had also shown interest in the forward.
The Marseille trip held a little history for Sinayoko. He had already scored at the Vélodrome in November 2024 while representing Auxerre, but this time he left with the match ball and a result that underlined his growing importance to Liam Rosenior’s side.
His development has been gradual rather than sudden. Sinayoko struck 12 goals in 32 matches for Auxerre during the 2025/26 campaign, a return that persuaded Paris FC to move decisively for him.
Before that season, he had registered 29 league goals across 167 games for Auxerre. Much of that earlier period came from wide positions, rather than as the central attacking reference he has become in Paris.
At 1.86 metres, Sinayoko gives Rosenior a forward capable of occupying centre-backs, receiving with his back to goal and bringing runners into play. He can also drift towards either flank, carry the ball over distance and attack open ground with pace and power.
That range has made him more than a conventional penalty-box striker. When opponents defend deep, he can step outside the area to link passages of play, hold possession, lay it off and turn towards goal.
Paris FC secured him on a deal through June 2029 after paying €7.5 million to Auxerre, despite interest from England. Leeds United, Brighton and Crystal Palace were among the clubs monitoring a profile that could have translated naturally to the Premier League.
For now, though, Sinayoko’s next stage is being written in the French capital. Four goals in five league fixtures suggest that Paris FC have gained not only a new No. 9, but a forward whose rise is accelerating.
