He’s a winger and they’ve gone and wasted £70m on Pepe when they’ve got this kid doing what he did
Adrian Durham on Arsenal stars Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka
The 18-year-old academy graduate scored the second goal of the game with a fine curling effort from outside the box.
And that led to Durham claiming there was no need for Arsenal to bring in Pepe.
“He’s been working with Freddie Ljungberg since he was 15 at Arsenal, this kid Saka,” Durham said.
“He’s a winger and they’ve gone and wasted £70m on Pepe when they’ve got this kid doing what he did [Thursday] night away in Europe.”
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Durham says Arsenal did not need to sign Nicolas Pepe because they already had Bukayo Saka (Image: TALKSPORT)
Meanwhile, former Arsenal defender Martin Keown claimed after the Frankfurt win that Saka looked better than Pepe.
“They toil away, trying to get young players in, and they’ve found one, Saka,” Keown said on BT Sport.
“You think of the way Pepe’s playing at the moment, they paid £72m for him, and this kid looks better than him tonight.”
And it was not just Saka's attacking play that impressed ex-England midfielder Owen Hargreaves.
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Bukayo Saka scored his first professional goal for Arsenal against Eintracht Frankfurt (Image: GETTY)
“This is what you really want to see from young kids as well, working hard,” Hargreaves said.
“He was clinical today but look at this, pressing the ball, wins it back, puts it on a plate for [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang.
“The German fans are used to seeing English players tearing it up in Germany with Jadon Sancho - we’ve got another one there, 18 years old. Saka, he was outstanding.”