Former Tottenham Hotspur coach and midfielder Tim Sherwood has questioned Arsenal's signing of Ivory Coast international Nicolas Pepe last summer for a club-record fee in the region of 70 million pounds.

It was thought that the Gunners capture of Pepe could impede the development of Bukayo Saka but that has not been the case, with the Hale End Academy product emerging as a key player under manager Mikel Arteta.

Sherwood pointed out that the Anglo-Nigerian winger cannot be ignored for selection by the Arsenal coaching staff because of his versatility.

This season, Saka has caught the eye playing in multiple positions including left-back, left wing-back, left midfielder, left winger and most recently as an inverted winger.

Speaking on  Premier League Productions, Sherwood stated : "He knows he is capable of doing moments like that, I think he's got the game time because of his versatility.

"When he saw Pepe come in the door, he must thought, 'Wow am I ever going to play', but let me tell you there is no £70 million difference between that kid Saka and Pepe, nowhere near.

"And in fact they should have saved their money and just develop that young boy because they have a manager now who wants to look at the academy.

"Look at how many of them have come up - Willock, who's coming off the bench, Maitland-Niles- so many of these kids now.

"Just like Chelsea have done, the kids are there in all these clubs, just give them a chance to play."

Saka opened his Premier League account as Arsenal beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 on Saturday evening.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com