Striker Arsenal sold for £1m says he genuinely thought he was going to be better than Dennis Bergkamp

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Arsenal have had some truly amazing strikers over the years.

Thierry Henry is an all-time great, Robin van Persie was an amazing centre-forward, while Viktor Gyokeres already looks like a star.

However, perhaps the most naturally talented striker Arsenal have ever had is Dennis Bergkamp.

Bergkamp was an absolute genius with a football, and not many players can measure up to what he did for Arsenal.

Speaking on the Beast Mode On Podcast, former Arsenal academy ace, Jay Bothroyd has now made a very interesting claim about his time in north London and it concerns the non-flying Dutchman.

Jay Bothroyd thought he was going to be better than Dennis Bergkamp

The striker spoke about his time around the Arsenal first team.

Bothroyd says he actually told Dennis Bergkamp he would take his shirt number at Arsenal, claiming that he genuinely thought he could become better than Bergkamp at one point.

“Now I’m playing with like Bergkamp, Henry and these players,” Bothroyd said.

“I was like, they’re good, but I’m good. I remember going up to Dennis Bergkamp and saying you’re wearing my number, you’re not going to have that for long.

“Ray Parlour started laughing saying ‘you think you should have that number?’ I said, yeah, I do, I can be better than you.”

Dennis Bergkamp compared to Jay Bothroyd

Jay Bothroyd seemingly had a lot of confidence in his ability as a young player, but, unfortunately, he never quite hit the heights he expected to.

Indeed, Bothroyd never became the next Bergkamp. In fact, he left Arsenal before ever making a senior appearance for the Gunners.

The stats show that Bothroyd never came close to emulating Bergkamp.

Bothroyd did become an England international and carved out a respectable career, but it would appear he overestimated his own ability as a young player.