Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is well aware of just how good Sergio Aguero is.
During his time as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, he got to coach the Argentine striker in training and watched him establish himself as a Premier League great.
And since returning to Arsenal, Arteta has been able to work with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and was rewarded with two goals from his captain in last season’s FA Cup final which earned him his first trophy as a manager.
Given both players’ rather impressive goalscoring records, and the fact the Spaniard has coached and managed both, naturally, he was asked to compare them last year and Arteta opened up on the similarities that Aguero and Aubameyang share.
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“They have completely different qualities overall, but a very common thing which is that they have an incredible ability to put the ball in the back of the net, for sure. Very different characters, very different players,” Arteta said.
“Both ruthless to train, to keep scoring goals, being annoyed if they don’t do so, and an incredible talent to do the most difficult thing in football: scoring goals.”
Arteta also compared Aubameyang to his own former captain at Arsenal in Robin van Persie.
“Yeah when we played with Robin [van Persie], he used to make the difference for us every week,” the Spaniard added. “I always say that he was one of the strikers I most enjoyed playing with because of his intelligence, the overall quality to play around in any position in area of the field and as well the quality of his finishing and movement.
“Now we have the luck of having Auba and a player that can do that in any moment of the game. We have to feed him and put in the right position as much as possible in the game to help us win as much as we can.”
Interestingly, Arteta’s statement regarding Aguero supports what Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has previously said about Aubameyang.
When speaking about the Gunners skipper last season, Henry summed up his appetite for goals and how good he is – similar to Aguero effectively.
“Aubameyang scored two goals and we escaped,” Henry said after Aubameyang scored twice in a 2-2 draw against Norwich City. “But that’s what I saw, you know, without the goals of Aubameyang I don’t know where we would have been right now.
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In addition, When Aubameyang’s future was up in the air – prior to signing a new deal last summer – it was a point reiterated by Henry, despite his refusal to tell the attacker he should stay.
“All I know is that we are definitely going to miss his goals if he does leave,” Henry told Sky Sports
“He does score goals and if you take the goals of Aubameyang away, it’s a tough one.”