Wenger: Nasri is new Pires
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Arsene Wenger has hailed debut goalscorer Sami Nasri and compared him to former Arsenal winger Robert Pires.
The goal output of Pires is still missed at Emirates Stadium but Nasri was quickly off the mark with his fourth minute winner against West Brom in the season opener on Saturday.
Wenger has already allowed himself to mention the former Marseille man in the same breath as Marc Overmars and Pires and is convinced he will have a similar impact in North London.
"He had a bad last season at Marseille because he had meningitis and spent two weeks in hospital," declared the Gunners boss.
"The year before, everyone wanted him, but sometimes you have to be brave enough when everyone else says he is not good.
"He had made an impression that I kept with me. I had seen things in him and I had to go with my beliefs.
"Marc Overmars was in a similar situation before he came to Arsenal and, hopefully, Nasri can have the same impact here.
"There is a bit of Robert Pires in him as he is able to change direction very easily.
"He is smaller than Pires but gets stuck in more, which is not difficult as Robert's strength was never his tackling, it was the intelligence of his game."
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yea agree.