Arsenal legend-turned-pundit Martin Keown has said that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the closest thing when it comes to comparing with former Gunners star Thierry Henry. The Gabon international has been in top form for the north London side through the campaign and he recently grabbed a hat-trick against Valencia to guide his team to the Europa League final.

Speaking on BT Sport, Keown said that there are similarities between Aubameyang and Henry and happened to praise the former, who made the step up alongside Alexandre Lacazette during the knockout stages of this season’s Europa League, he said: "I have said it before but he is the closest thing to [Thierry] Henry and he is proving that tonight. We are getting out of our chairs every time he has the ball.

“Let's credit [Unai] Emery as well for playing both of those strikers and [Mesut] Ozil as well. He was cup-tied last year and boy did Arsenal miss him. He was [Eden] Hazard-like running with the ball at times tonight. He became a top player for me tonight. I've said he is the closest thing to Henry and he showed it."

The north London giants could not bank on the services of Aubameyang during the previous Europa League campaign, given he was Cup-tied with Borussia Dortmund also featuring in the competition. However, he has proved his worth during the current season with eight goals in Europe and has the opportunity to guide the team to glory when they face Chelsea in the competition’s final.

Arsenal missed out on the Champions League after only managing a fifth-place finish in the Premier League but they have the second chance of making the elite competition, should they win the Europa League crown. As such, they have the double reward of beating Chelsea in Baku and it will be interesting to see whether they can achieve the objective.