Martin Keown compared Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Thierry Henry after Arsenal’s low-key Europa League draw against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday night.
Speaking on BT Sport, the former Gunners defender drooled over the potential of Aubameyang but urged the player’s camp to push him to realise his immense potential at the London Stadium.
The January signing from Borussia Dortmund played an hour of the goalless draw against Sporting after coming off the bench to replace the injured Danny Welbeck.
“He’s the closest thing to Thierry Henry that I’ve seen since he left the football, he really is that good” Keown told BT Sport after the match against Sporting. “Someone in his camp should be pushing him and dragging that performance out of him because he’s a special talent who scores lots of goals. It’s just that hunger, he needs to get to boiling point and he’s not quite there.”
? Games: 15
?? Goals: 9"He's the closest thing to Thierry Henry that I've seen." ?
But Martin Keown and Joe Cole are demanding more from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang… pic.twitter.com/QU8Nii6KIu
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OPINION
Like peak Henry, Aubameyang has the speed of an Olympic sprinter and the directness and mobility to scare the living daylights out of any defender you choose to mention. He also a real eye for goal, as demonstrated during his days at Dortmund and again at Arsenal, with 28 matches for the club yielding an impressive 19 goals. Yet, there is a sense, as Keown points out, that the Gabon striker could do more. He is so quick, so explosive and such a threat that there is disappointment he flits in and out of games rather than consistently takes them by the scruff of the neck and shapes them in his image. Just like Henry did. Comparing the January signing to Arsenal’s greatest-ever player is a big call by Keown and, given that Aubameyang turned 29 in June, there must be serious doubts as to how much improvement he can make at this stage of his career. Even if he is at his peak, he is unlikely to get better. Players of his type rarely do at that stage.