It's fair to say Yaya Sanogo's loan spell at Ajax certainly hasn't gotten off to the brightest of starts.

The on-loan Arsenal striker was expected to spend a season at the Dutch giants, gain vital first team experience, and come back to Arsenal with some goals and a new-found swagger to his name.

However, the Frenchman is clearly on the outer already at Amsterdam Arena.

First academy coach Ronald De Boer, brother of head coach Franck De Boer, claimed the striker had no impressive qualities to work with.

"When I see Sanogo I still have my doubts. I have still found no qualities with which you can do something," the younger De Boer recently said of the loanee.

Surely a harsh tag for someone that has just come into a club, however things haven't improved since then for the 22-year-old.

After a cameo appearance off the bench against Willem ll, Sanogo was last Tuesday shunted to Ajax's reserves side, where he played a full game in a 1-1 draw against Helmond Sport, in front of a crowd of less than 1000 people.

Sanogo was then left out of Ajax's squad completely – not even making the bench – for the Eredivisie clash against NEC Nijmegen on Sunday.

The club cited a 'lack of fitness' as the reason for Sanogo's absence, which must surely raise some eyebrows considering he played 90 minutes six days earlier, and featured a number of times in virtually a full pre-season.

Remember, this is a man who only a few months ago said he wanted to emulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic during his time in the Dutch capital.

Ajax play Czech outfit Jablonec in their Europa League play-off second leg on Thursday, which represents a tremendous opportunity for an impression to be made to the club's coaching staff in a key game, but will Sanogo be awarded the opportunity?

If Sanogo doesn't make De Boer's squad for this match, it appears he is already staring down the barrel in the famous Dutch city, which was supposed to see him gain an education under Gunners great Dennis Bergkamp.