Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has named both Nuno Tavares and Kieran Tierney as being faster than him in the Arsenal squad.
The Gabon international has long been tipped as the likely speedster in the side, but some alternative names have been bandied around in recent seasons.
The player himself has now named two of his younger counterparts as being faster than him in an interview with Yianni.
‘I think no [not the fastest in the Arsenal team], I think we’ve got some players that are really quick. We have never done a real race, because if we do that I have my chances,’ Auba stated.
‘At 80-100 metres I’m sure I’m one of the best, but in 30 metres, yea we’ve got some quick players, like Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares, they are really quick in their first steps.
‘When I was 18-19 years old I’d kill them, 100 percent.’
Auba has definitely lost a little bit of pace in recent seasons, but definitely isn’t slow by any means, while it is a shame that both of our fastest players at present both operate in the same position.
The two could actually fit together if we were to change the formation, with Tierney more than capable of playing on the left of a back three, while it wouldn’t be too huge a shock if Tavares filled in at right-back given his use of both feet also.
Bukayo Saka looks to have a fair amount of pace also, but doesn’t seem to get the credit from his team-mates in interviews.
Do any other Arsenal players look to be close to Aubameyang in pace?
Patrick
I don’t think there’s too many players on the continent that can compete with Nuno in a half pitch race….on a couple occasions he’s literally come from off the screen and passed players on both teams who were in a full sprint
Yeah and he’s a solid unit on top of it!
While I shall reserve judgement on Nuno until I have seen him in action against top quality opposition, my first impressions are very favourable.He is very athletic and physical and could develop into a left sided midfielder in a 4-3-3 set up .Whether he has the ball control and football intelligence to fit into a midfield role is perhaps open to doubt but I would love to see him being tried in that position against Sunderland?From what I have seen he is the fastest player in our side over 20/30 yards.