Arsenal must step up efforts for 18yo who’s ‘similar’ to Aubameyang and ‘born for the top’ – TBR View

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Although Arsenal may not have had the best season this term, one shining light for the Gunners came in the shape of several young prodigies breaking into the first team.

Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are arguably the standout starlets who have made a huge impact for Arsenal this season, but Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah also look like stars of the future.

Arsenal must not rest on their laurels, however, and there is one very talented youngster plying his trade in Austrian football who could just be a potential long-term replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Gunners were previously linked with Red Bull Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi, with Transfermarkt reporting in December that they were keeping tabs on the 18-year-old, along with Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Adeyemi, who follows players “that have a similar playing style to mine, like Arsenal’s Aubameyang for example“, enjoyed a stellar loan spell at farm team FC Liefering, claiming nine goals and eight assists in 14 Austrian second division appearances.

Now back with Salzburg, Adeyemi has already featured for the senior side, playing 45 minutes in the Europa League last-32 first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

“My biggest strength is certainly my pace and one-on-one situations. I also like to score goals,” he told Transfermarkt. “I try to realise things on the attack. I think, I don’t do this poorly.”

The Germany youth international is being touted for a huge future, and although he committed his future to Salzburg until 2024 in January, signing a new deal, he still wants to play in a “top league” one day (Sportbuzzer).

Adeyemi’s potential is such that Goal has ranked him at number 24 in their NxGn 2020 list of the 50 top youngsters in world football born on or after 1 January 2001.

“He was born for the top,” Ognen Zaric, who worked with Karim Adeyemi in Unterhaching’s Under-17s side, told Goal last November. “With him, I see no limit.”