French youngster delighted Arsenal great Thierry Henry compared him to Nigerian legend

The greatest goalscorer in Arsenal’s history has likened an exciting Nantes forward to one of his technically gifted former teammates

Nantes youngster Randal Kolo-Muani has revealed he was pleased to learn that France 98 World Cup-winning striker Thierry Henry compared him to former Super Eagles forward Nwankwo Kanu.

After spending last season on loan at French lower division side Boulogne, Kolo-Muani has fought his way to the first-team picture at parent club Nantes with a string of impressive performances.

The 22-year-old has two goals and two assists in ten Ligue 1 games for Nantes, a team that narrowly escaped relegation last term but are currently flying in the seventh position on the league table.

But what has caught the eye about Kolo-Muani more than his goals is the youngster’s technical ability with the ball at his feet.

This quality made former Arsenal goal-king Henry liken Kolo-Muani to former Gunners teammate of a similar attribute, Kanu.

Kanu was not known for great pace or prolific scoring ability. Still, his ability to caress the ball majestically and pick out the final pass brought him fame and titles across three European countries.

Kolo-Muani was not born when Kanu won the 1995 UEFA Champions League with Ajax, and the French youth international was only 14 years old when the Nigerian retired from active football in 2012.

Kolo-Muani has confessed that he was too young to see Kanu in action, but he has gone to check videos of the Atlanta ’96 Olympics gold medalist following Henry’s comments.

When asked in an interview with Sofoot whether he has seen Kanu’s videos following Henry’s statements, Kolo-Muani said: “I checked straight away! I was very happy; I showed this to my brother.

“He (Kanu) was a very comfortable player technically.”

Kolo Muani is currently a club teammate of another Nigerian forward, Moses Simon.

Simon has arguably outshone everyone else at Nantes in the opening months of the campaign, winning the Yellow Canaries player of August and September.