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da pinnacle： Arsenal have been heavily linked with a move for Rennes winger Ismaila Sarr in recent months, and their fans finally got a chance to see him in the flesh during their 3-1 Europa League defeat against the Ligue 1 outfit on Thursday night.
On the chalkboard
The 21-year-old has the versatility to play on either wing but started on the right against the Gunners in the round of 16 tie, and he certainly caused plenty of issues for Nacho Monreal using his pace and dribbling ability.
Like opponent Alex Iwobi, who is much improved but still sometimes continues to put in inconsistent performances for the north London outfit despite being a first-team regular, the Senegal international found the net late on with a header to give the French club an advantage ahead of the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
Sarr has scored 10 goals and provided nine assists in 37 appearances in all competitions for Rennes during the current campaign.
Better than Iwobi?
In a word, no.
And the award for most enthusiastic celebration of a goal scored in the last week goes to the fan in the video below…
There may well have been a debate as to whether the youngster would be an upgrade on the Nigeria international should he sign for Arsenal, but despite his goal and general threat you would have to say he wouldn’t be on this display.
He showed the same weaknesses we often see in the 22-year-old’s game, and highlighted that he doesn’t always have a good end product.
While he made two key passes in 90 minutes – Iwobi made one in 52 minutes before he was substituted off – he also suffered from bad control on 10 occasions, was dispossessed three times and made little contribution from a defensive point of view – something which is needed in the Premier League.
All in all, it was difficult to see how splashing out on the African attacker would solve any of the Gunners’ issues, and they would be better off developing the talented player they already have at their disposal instead.