François Kamano’s rise in stock this season has been meteoric. At the tender age of 18, the SC Bastia forward has been at the forefront of the club’s revival under new coach Ghislain Printant. Indeed, he even remarkably earned selection to his country’s 2015 AFCoN squad.

Born in Guinea’s third largest city, Kindia, Kamano relocated to the capital Conakry for his studies and footballing career without his family. In 2010, he joined local giants Satellite FC in 2010 and played a crucial role in his side’s second place finish in Guinea’s “Ligue 1” in 2012/13. Attracting scouts from across Europe, Kamano had trials at AIK Solna, Villarreal and Stade Rennais before Bastia announced his signing this summer on a four year contract.

Kamano has really hit the heights in recent weeks. Playing on the right of a 4-2-3-1, he has interchanged nicely with Algerian trequartista Ryad Boudebouz and new frontman Giovanni Sio, recently signed from FC Basel. His connection with the latter has already been evident, with Kamano delightfully slotting the ball through for Sio to finish to make it 0-1 vs Nantes in Gameweek 25. The Guinean’s highlight so far, however, has to be his sublime goal vs Metz: a 30 yard effort that delightfully curled into the top corner from the left of the area. A return of 2 goals and 3 assists for an 18 year old winger is mighty impressive stuff in a maiden season.

The African has played across the Bastia frontline this term, but has looked particularly inspiring as a right winger. Kamano is a modern attacker, brimming with pace and power; an outstanding athlete. He stands at six foot, but possesses the close control and dribbling ability of someone much shorter. The youngster also loves running at defenders and favours cutting in, despite being stronger on his right. He is also a foul magnet, drawing about two per game.

Kamano, however, is far from the finished product. In fact, he is still very raw, with often little end product. He is often dispossessed (average of 2.1 times per match in Ligue 1) too easily. His simple passing can also be sloppy and one could describe him as trigger-happy too. However, it would be incredibly harsh to highlight the faults of such a young, precocious player.

The Stade Armand-Cesari has already witnessed the emergence of several other African stars, notably Michael Essien and Alex Song. Although unmellowed, the Guinean’s talents make you immediately take notice and jump out of your seat. I, for one, fully expect to see the name of François Kamano up in lights in the coming years.