Despite not winning a Premier League title, Arsenal had some sensational players during Arsène Wenger’s final few years at the helm.
Mesut Özil, for example, was still unquestionably one of the most brilliant midfielders in the world, and with a better strike force, would have smashed assist records.
Likewise, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goals ensured the Frenchman’s final campaign at the club was a complete disaster.
However, perhaps the best player the former manager had during the Emirates era was Alexis Sanchez, and it looks like Mikel Arteta is crafting his own version of the Chilean today.
Sanchez's Arsenal career
There was a fair amount of excitement around the fanbase when Arsenal paid Barcelona £35m for Sanchez in the summer of 2014, and yet, he still managed to more than exceed expectations when he got to the Emirates.
For example, in just his first campaign with the Gunners, the game-changing winger racked up a simply sensational tally of 25 goals and 12 assists in 52 appearances, totalling 4326 minutes, and helped the club to win their second FA Cup in as many years.
The right-footed monster didn’t slow down there, either, racking up 28 goal involvements in 41 games the following season and then reaching his peak, and perhaps putting in the best campaign any player has had in the Emirates era in the 16/17 season.
That year, the Tocopilla-born phenom somehow managed to put the ball in the back of the net 30 times and provide 18 assists in 51 appearances, totalling 4230 minutes.
In other words, the former Barca star averaged a goal involvement every 1.06 games, or every 88.12 minutes, and once again played a role in an FA Cup triumph, scoring a goal in the Final against Chelsea.
Appearances
52
41
51
22
Goals
25
17
30
8
Assists
12
11
18
4
Goal Involvements per Match
0.71
0.68
0.94
0.54
Unfortunately, such a world-class rate of return saw Manchester United come knocking in January 2018, and he left to join them in a swap deal that essentially put an end to him as a truly elite player.
Since then, Arsenal have had some brilliant players, but now it feels like Arteta and Co. are moulding one of their current stars to be a left-footed Sanchez.
Arsenal's new Sanchez
Thanks to their summer business, Arsenal now have a couple more wingers to choose from this season in Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze.
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However, neither one is likely to become the club’s new Sanchez, unlike Bukayo Saka.
Now, while that might sound like a stretch to some of you, there are reasons behind this comparison, and perhaps the most consequential is his output.
For example, while he wasn’t always the most impactful of players in his early campaigns, largely due to being moved around the team and being so young, he has since become the Gunners’ biggest attacking threat.
In the 22/23 season, he racked up 27 goal involvements in 48 games; the following campaign, he racked up 37 in 47 and then last season, despite missing almost four months through injury, he racked up 26 in 37 appearances.
On top of just being hugely impressive, these numbers also made him the first Gunners ace since Sanchez to score and assist over ten goals for three seasons on the bounce in early April.
Moreover, like the 36-year-old, this sensational rate of return has made him a vitally important part of the team, and therefore one of the manager’s talismans.
Finally, while it’s quite a difficult thing to define, the Englishman is also, without a doubt, the biggest star in the current team, the face of the project and as talent scout Jacek Kulig put it, a “legend in the making.”
Ultimately, thanks to his brilliant output and stature in the team, it’s easy to look at Saka as Arteta’s left-footed Sanchez.
