Arsene Wenger delighted with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emereick Aubameyang's immediate impact

Arsene Wenger said it looked like new signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emereick Aubameyang had been played with Arsenal forever, after the side battered Everton 5-1 in their first starts for the club. Mkhitaryan supplied three assists, including the set-up for his former Borussia Dortmund teammate’s first goal, as Aaron Ramsey also got a hat-trick.

“In the first half we were quick and mobile and technically very sharp and we finished very well as well and overall the two players integrated well in our game and looked like they had played with us forever,” Wenger said.

“They have similar qualities to what our game is about, technically good and quick and it was the first convincing performance.”

Wenger said he felt this evidence showed £60m Aubameyang was a “reasonable price” in this inflated market.

“I feel the quality of his movement was excellent. The quality of his finishing looks excellent. He is not completely at his best physically and still has work to do physically… I believe that quality of striker in today’s market is a reasonable price.

“He looks always to give a problem to the defender with his move and once he is in front it is very difficult to catch him. I like the quality of his movement I must say, he is always looking to move into spaces that are very difficult for defenders to to cover. When we know him better and understand him better I think he will be more dangerous.”

Wenger also enthused about Mkhitaryan’s integration.

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“He is a good link player and works very hard as well. Overall, he looked well accepted by the rest of the team and had an understanding of how we wanted to play.

“He didn’t play so I wasn’t too surprised they sold him. He was not playing at Manchester United and they got one more player who was in a similar position in [Alexis] Sanchez so they had made that decision because of that.

“I’m not responsible for Manchester United’s decisions, I am responsible for Arsenal’s decisions, that is enough for me. They had their reasons and they got a world-class player in Sanchez and that obstructed opportunities for him.

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Wenger was also excited with how Mesut Ozil linked up with the new signings.

“They look like they can play together. We had Mesut and Sanchez had a privileged understanding. We can be creative and mobile, our game is based on that, but it means we have to attack. Our challenge is to find a balance. We are a very offensive team and want to play that kind of football. But we have to find the balance between attacking and defending. That will be a challenge for the end of the season.”

Then there was the effect on Ramsey, who hit a first Arsenal hat-trick of his career.

“Aaron Ramsey, always when I watched the game and the video, you think ‘oh, he is there in a very good position in the box’. I always thought he had 10/15 goals in his locker at least. He didn’t do it until now because I think he rushed his finishing sometimes and now he is calmer he doesn’t rush it. That is maybe the secret to being efficient.”