A current star of the Gunners side has been likened to an iconic figure of the club’s past, with both men renowned for their ability to find the net
Alexandre Lacazette is hoping to see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang make a similar impact at Arsenal as Thierry Henry managed, with two proven goalscorers having sparked obvious comparisons.
The Gunners have been fortunate to boast many fine frontmen within their ranks during the Premier League era, with a record-breaking achievement baton having passed from Ian Wright to Henry.
Aubameyang is now the leading man at Emirates Stadium, with the Gabonese star having found the target 16 times in 23 appearances following a January arrival from Borussia Dortmund.
That record places him above Henry through the same number of games, with an iconic Frenchman having ended his time in north London with 228 efforts to his name.
Lacazette concedes that Aubameyang, at 29 years of age, is unlikely to get close to that tally, but he can see why an in-form team-mate is being spoken about in the same glowing terms.
He said after seeing a fellow frontman bag a brace off the bench in a 5-1 mauling of Fulham: “It is hard to compare [Aubameyang’s record] with Thierry because he came younger and Auba is at the top of his career but I hope Auba scores as many goals to help us win something.”
Lacazette also netted twice in a convincing Premier League derby win over the Cottagers, taking his personal Arsenal tally to 22 in 49 games.
He has formed a productive partnership with Aubameyang, with the pair having helped the Gunners on a nine-match winning run.
“It is good,” Lacazette said of his relationship with a talented team-mate.
“He is like my brother, every day we talk, we love to work together.”
The exploits of two prolific goal-getters have helped to lift Arsenal above arch-rivals Tottenham into the Premier League’s top four.
They are only two points back on the leading trio of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, but Lacazette insists nobody is getting ahead of themselves just yet.
“To talk about the top four is early I think,” he said.
“We have to keep quiet and work like we did before and the season is going well. Just work as we did and we will see at the end of the season.
“The team spirit is good, of course when you win it is better. We will enjoy it, we are working well and we want to continue like this.
“It was hard for Fulham because they played well in the first half. They made it hard for us to play but we knew if we kept playing we would score so everyone is happy today.
“We knew if we lost the first two games it wasn’t the end of the world. We have worked and knew we could go forward so everything is better now.”