Arsenal have had some incredible attacking players in recent years.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was a Golden Boot winner during his time at Arsenal, Leandro Trossard has been fantastic at times for the Gunners, while Gabriel Martinelli is a very exciting player.
However, the two greatest attacking players Arsenal have had in recent years are surely Alexis Sanchez and Bukayo Saka.
Saka is a world-class player at this point, while Sanchez single-handedly carried Arsenal for a number of years in the mid-2010s.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Darren Bent has been given the unenviable task of picking between the two Arsenal greats.
Ultimately, Bent picked Sanchez over Saka, claiming that the Chilean was just a different level when he was at the top of his game.
Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images
Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images
Darren Bent picks Alexis Sanchez over Bukayo Saka
Bent spoke about the £32m man and Saka’s abilities.
Bent had a tough time picking between Sanchez and Saka, but, ultimately, he opted for Sanchez, claiming that he was the better player when he was at his best.
“In their pomp, Saka or Sanchez?” Bent was asked.
“Oh my goodness gracious me. You’re talking about them both at the top, top level. I promise you. It’s tarnished because of the way he left, but he was different, Sanchez was different,” Bent said.
Alexis Sanchez best season compared to Bukayo Saka
Bent found it very hard to pick Sanchez over Saka, but, ultimately, this is probably the right call.
Indeed, at his best, Sanchez had a claim to being the very best player in the Premier League at one point.
Meanwhile, Saka is excellent, but he’s not quite hit the same heights Sanchez did during his best period for Arsenal.
|Bukayo Saka best season at Arsenal|Alexis Sanchez best season at Arsenal|
|---|---|---|
|35|Games|38|
|16|Goals|24|
|9|Assists|10|
|0.71|Goal contributions per game|0.89|
Of course, Saka does have time on his side.
At the age of just 23, Saka has a long way to go in terms of growth and improvement at this level, while Sanchez was in the peak of his career when he was hitting 20+ goals in a season for Arsenal.
Robert Pires thinks Saka is already better than Sanchez, and while Bent disagrees, in a few years’ time, Saka may well have changed the conversation around this debate.
Saka and Sanchez are two incredible players, and it’s a shame that they never got to play in the same team at Arsenal.