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French Football Weekly’s Player of the Month for August is Auxerre midfielder Alain Traoré, who has made a fantastic start to the season and helped his side to a number of important points over the course of the month.  His midfield presence and accuracy in both passing and shooting have certainly aided the cause for both his personal development and the progression of Auxerre as they look to get over a rather indifferent campaign last season.

At the age of just 22, Alain Traoré has shown plenty of maturity so far this season and will undoubtedly be turning some heads in his direction should these performances keep up.

Auxerre began their campaign on a low note, being defeated 3-1 by Montpellier.  Traoré’s goal, however, was a highlight as he shot from distance to level things.  Things did not look so bad the following week against former champions Marseille.  With Marseille 2-0 up at the break, it could be argued that Traoré’s goal spurned the comeback as Auxerre managed a 2-2 draw.

Traoré scored his third goal in as many games in a 1-1 draw against Bordeaux, highlighting just how important he and his goals can be for the club.  However, it was in Auxerre’s fourth game of the season that he really showed what he can do in helping the team to a 4-1 victory over newly-promoted Corsican side Ajaccio.  Traoré certainly stole the show in doing so with his goals coming from a powerful free-kick and a wonderful shot from outside the area.

Throughout the month, Traoré’s hard work and ability to find and work the space in the midfield has been a joy to behold and has proved exciting viewing.  This form has since continued into the month of September and, whereas his goalscoring exploits have not continued, new Auxerre boss Laurent Fournier will be pleased with the progression of the player but will remain cautious as these performances may alert some bigger European clubs to the scene.

With this being said, Alain Traoré was on trial with Manchester United earlier this year and explained to FranceFootball how things went:

“An agent working for Manchester United in Africa invited to England for a trial.  I should have been there for a week but I ended up staying for a month.  Alex Ferguson wanted me to stay longer but there were difficulties getting paperwork in place.  Eventually, my mother made the decision to join Auxerre.  The officials here gave her some guarantees about my education.  That made the difference.  Now Auxerre have helped me and I want to grow with the club.  I don’t want to cut corners.  If I can make a name for myself in Ligue 1, then I would like to join a big European club in the future.”

Alain Traoré has recently signed a new contract with AJ Auxerre.  The new deal will last until 2015 and is an extention of one year onto his old deal.  Auxerre fans will be hoping that he remains at the club for a long time to come.  He could prove to be a linchpin in the Auxerre midfield this season should his great form and flying start to the season continue.

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