Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger thinks Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang transfer deal is a steal at £56m

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James Benge4 February 2018

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal have snagged a bargain in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - even at a club-record £56million transfer fee.

Aubameyang made a goal-scoring start to his Arsenal career, finishing off an incisive team move - albeit from an offside position - with a delicate chip to score the fourth in the Gunners’ 5-1 win over Everton.

Though the 29-year-old’s signing saw Arsenal spend even more than the £52.7m they had spent on Alexandre Lacazette in the summer, their deal compares favourably with the likes of Romelu Lukaku (£75m) and Alvaro Morata (£58m).

The Arsenal manager said: “Overall I believe that [for that] quality of striker on today’s market, it’s a reasonable price.”

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

Wenger added: “He looks always to give a problem to the defender by his movement.

"Once you feel you’re in front of him it’s very difficult to catch him up.

“I like the quality of his movement, I must say.

"He’s always looking to go in spaces that are very difficult for the defenders to cover.

“When we know him better and understand him better we’ll be more dangerous.”

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Aubameyang’s deadline day arrival began a thrilling day for Arsenal fans, with Mesut Ozil also putting pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year contract extension worth up to £350,000-a-week.

Ozil, Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan already looked to have forged a strong partnership in their first game together, the latter providing three assists in a man-of-the match performance.

“They look like they can play together,” Wenger said. “Mesut and Sanchez had a privileged understanding but we can be creative.

"We can be mobile, our game is based on that. But that means we have to attack.

“Our challenge, I think, is to find a balance. We are a very offensive team, we want to play that kind of football.

"But we have to find a balance between attacking and defending.

“That will certainly be our challenge for the end of the season.”

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