This feature on Bukayo Saka first appeared in the August 2021 edition of FourFourTwo.
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Despite doubts over whether he would even make Gareth Southgate’s England squad, Bukayo Saka starred during the Three Lions’ Euros campaign before his heartbreaking penalty miss in the final.
It was a particularly cruel way – aged 19, as his country’s fifth penalty taker to keep them in their biggest game for 55 years – to end a tournament in which Saka’s assured displays made non-Arsenal fans appreciate just how gifted the youngster is. If there were mumblings before about the way Southgate threw him in at the deep end with starts against the Czechs, Germany and Denmark, they were quickly silenced.
That Saka was even trusted with a moment so big for his country, in only his ninth cap, should tell you enough about his standing. The moment will haunt him for a while no doubt, but the teenager has ample time to bounce back from that saved spot-kick – starting with the resumption of his role as one of Arsenal’s most important players.
When he set foot on the pitch on the opening day of the Premier League season for the first time since watching Gigi Donnarumma’s giant frame smother his dreams, the diminutive winger received a standing ovation from both home and away fans at Brentford's Community Stadium in a defiant showing that the racist hate he received online post-shootout will never win. Bukayo Saka is pretty special.
A standing ovation for Bukayo Saka 👏What a moment ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aAL0hIigl0August 13, 2021
He made his first-team bow under Unai Emery three years ago, but 2020/21 was his breakout campaign. No outfielder made as many league appearances for the club as Saka, and only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe netted more goals. His position on the pitch wasn’t always certain, but Saka was always among the first names on Mikel Arteta’s teamsheet and quickly belied his tender years. When you’re this good, age is an irrelevance.
It’s worth dwelling on that versatility. Saka was deployed as a right-sided forward most of all last year, but also spent time on the left flank, in central midfield, covering ground as a wing-back on both sides and as a conventional left-back. Saka can be a round peg or a square one, and wherever he played last season the trusty teen was one of Arsenal’s standout performers.
The Ealing local plays football with a sense of control that just isn’t normal. He’s the boy who knits his team together, ensuring cohesion and coordination between the different layers of Arsenal’s formation. Take him out, and seemingly distinct parts of the system are liable to break down.
Perhaps the only thing more impressive than his versatility is his maturity. Saka, the archetypal old head on young shoulders, so quiet and softly spoken, never looks like he’s flustered. His end product is polished, and his decision-making sound. Most teenage forwards are raw and rough around the edges, but the Londoner looks like he’s been playing at this level for years. Arteta will be particularly grateful to Arsenal’s academy for producing him – because signing a Saka from elsewhere would eat up a large chunk of his transfer budget.
“He has that character to demand the ball, to make decisions that are not very usual for his age,” Arteta said of his club’s player of the season, who won 51% of the votes in a five-man field and now exclusively owns the chilli emoji among Arsenal’s feverish support base on Twitter.
“We need that leadership and he’s gaining that with his attitude and his performances. With the intelligence that he has, with the work rate that he shows on the pitch and with the capacity that he has to understand the game in different positions, then he becomes a really different player.”
Although versatility is an asset, however, it might benefit the England international to nail down a regular position this season. The right wing looks the best fit, from where he can zip inside onto his stronger left foot, although Pepe finished last term strongly with six goals in his last six matches and operates almost exclusively from that area.
Saka’s all-round quality is such that you’d back him to excel as part of a midfield three, taking up positions between the lines and driving forward in possession. If Arteta wants to take a leaf out of Scotland manager Steve Clarke’s book, he could even reposition Kieran Tierney as a left-sided centre-half and deploy Saka as a wing-back ahead of him. Either way, he gives his grateful gaffer a multitude of options that wouldn’t be available without him.
With no European football for the first time since 1996, there are fewer minutes to go around at the Emirates this season, yet Saka – who turns 20 in early September – will be one of a select group of players who won’t need to worry. Already, he’s simply too good not to make an impact wherever he plays. Fitting him in is likely to be the nicest problem Arteta will face all year.
This looks likely to be a significant season for the Spaniard. There were grumblings of discontent amid poor runs last time out, not least when Arsenal were doddering about in mid-table as the finish line came into sight, but the Spaniard was never in any genuine danger of losing his job. Arteta has been in the game long enough to know that goodwill isn’t unlimited, though – not even for a club’s popular former captain who won the FA Cup within months of his appointment and especially after that dismal 2-0 opening day defeat at Brentford.
If Arteta is to cement his position in the hot seat by leading Arsenal back into the top four, Saka will be key. Neutrals have been warned: it’s no longer just Arsenal fans who’ll have exclusive rights to his fanclub...
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