Arsene Wenger hailed the impact of their new record signings as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inspired Arsenal to a stunning 5-1 win against Everton and also suggested that the £58m paid for Gabon centre forward was a bargain in the current market.
The new duo both fitted seamlessly into the Arsenal attack, with Aubameyang, who recovered from a fever to make his debut, scoring and Mkhitaryan making three assists.
And with the price of a world class centre forward now pushing £100million and upwards, Wenger admitted: ‘I believe for that quality of striker in today’s market it is a reasonable price.
‘The quality of his movement was excellent. The quality of his finishing looks excellent. And he is not completely at his best physically and still has work to do.’
Hat-trick hero Aaron Ramsey also paid tribute to his new team-mates and said: ‘Everyone was at it today, and when everyone’s at it, we are quality.
‘Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan were brilliant. You can see their link-up play. And if that’s him [Aubameyang] not at 100 per cent, we have a player on our hands. Well done to him and Mikhy getting the assists.’
Commenting on Mkhitaryan, who was man of the match for many, despite Ramsey’s hat-trick, Wenger said: ‘Overall, he looked well accepted by the rest of the team and had an understanding of how we wanted to play.
‘I have not an exact memory of all the 1,300 games I’ve managed so I don’t know if that is the best debut. The only thing you can say is that it was a convincing debut and shows he has the level to play with us.’
Aubameyang said: ‘I was really happy, we won the game in the first half and the second was a bit different. We are happy. But I think there is more to come.’
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