Arteta has found Arsenal’s new Ozil & Sanchez in unreal “future legend”

The last two decades might not have been the most successful, but Arsenal have still been blessed with many incredible players.

The likes of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez all saw their time in N5 end on a sour note, but they were simply electric at their best.

The latter two, in particular, felt like genuine world-class talents during their time at the Emirates, and it would be fair to say that neither one has been replaced – until now.

In fact, a talent within Mikel Arteta’s squad today looks like he’s single-handedly trying to recreate their output this season.

Ozil & Sanchez’s Arsenal careers

So, before we get to the player in question, let’s remind ourselves of just how good Ozil and Sanchez were at Arsenal, starting with the latter.

He joined the Gunners for around £35m in the summer of 2014, and to say he was an instant success would be a colossal understatement.

In his first season, the Chilean international found the back of the net on 25 occasions in just 52 games and provided 12 assists to boot in a campaign that saw the North Londoners lift their second FA Cup in as many seasons.

In all, the former Barcelona star scored a staggering 80 goals and provided 44 assists in 166 appearances for the club before he made the infamous choice to join Manchester United in January 2018, which saw his abilities in front of goal take a sharp nose dive and utterly eviscerated any goodwill he had with the Arsenal faithful.

On the other hand, Ozil was practically forced out of the club by Arteta and Co in January 2021, and as such, there is still some love between him and the fans at the Emirates, although based on his incredible performances for them, that’s no surprise.

In the years following his club-record £42.4m deadline day move in September 2013, the World Cup winner scored 44 goals and provided 75 assists in 254 appearances, clearly being the more creative of the two players.

With that said, who is the current Arsenal player looking to emulate their pair?

Arsenal’s modern Ozil & Sanches hybrid

So, it’s probably reasonably clear at this point that the player in question is Bukayo Saka.

The Hale End icon is rapidly turning into an undeniable superstar at Arsenal, and while he’s been brilliant for the last few seasons, he seems to have taken yet another step forward this year in both ability and attitude, which is seeing him step into the roles Ozil and Sanchez used to fill at the club.

Now, the way he’s emulating the former is twofold. The first is that, as the German was for the first few years at the club, the Englishman is now undoubtedly the Gunners’ poster boy and the face of the project.

The second way is down to the incredible rate at which he is providing assists this season, as in just 13Premier League appearances, he has already picked up ten and looks almost guaranteed to surpass the German’s record of 20 in a season.

Moreover, it’s not just something he’s doing this season either, as in his 245 senior appearances for the club, the 23-year-old phenom has racked up 61 assists, and considering he spent a good chunk of his career at left-back and being moved all over the pitch, that is a brilliant return.

Moving onto Sanchez then, and this is a far simpler comparison to wrap your head around, as, like the Udinese ace, the Gunners’ “future legend”, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has become a reliable scorer of goals from out wide.

For example, this season alone, he has already scored seven; last year, it was 14, and overall, he has 65 to his name in the first team.

Ultimately, while he might not be as flashy as either, Saka is showing that he can develop into a supreme goalscorer like Sanchez and an assist king like Ozil, and all from an academy product – talk about hitting the jackpot.