Arsenal have some of the best young wide players in the Premier League at the moment, and two of their biggest stars are undoubtedly Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
The partnership between Saka and Smith Rowe is almost too perfect. They both came through Hale End together, they’re great friends, they complement each other’s styles well and they’ve even had a brilliant chant written about them to the tune of Status Quo.
However, as hard as it is to believe, Arsenal could soon have a wing duo that’s even scarier than Saka and Smith Rowe.
Indeed, according to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal are one of the teams monitoring Leeds United’s Raphinha, and while the Gunners have spent the last two years thinking they have England’s future with Saka and Smith Rowe, they may actually end up having the future of the Brazil national team with Raphinha and Gabriel Martinelli.
Martinelli and Raphinha would be absolutely unreal together, there’s no doubt about it.
They’re both incredibly skilful, they both have an absolutely insane workrate and as a pair of inverted wingers, they’d suit Mikel Arteta’s system brilliantly.
As brilliant as Saka has been this season, there’s a case to be made that Raphinha has been even better.
He has the same number of goals, more key passes per game, more dribbles per game and greater defensive numbers, all while playing for a team that is battling relegation while Saka is turning out for a high-flying Arsenal side.
Meanwhile, down the left, Martinelli has been keeping Smith Rowe out of the team in recent weeks, and his performances have been absolutely electric.
Saka and Smith Rowe may be two of Hale End’s greatest graduates in recent years, but if Raphinha ends up at the Emirates, the Gunners could end up with two samba superstars on the wings rather than their academy gems.
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