Starboy Saka is shining for club and country – is it the start of something big?

I’ll start with a confession. I’d hoped to write this once Bukayo Saka had signed a new deal at Arsenal. Unfortunately, it’s not happened yet. But the 21-year-old is in red-hot form for club and country and I can’t afford to miss the boat.

Following his performance against Italy in England’s recent Euros qualifier, a goal and an assist against Ukraine rounded off an eye-catching international break for Bukayo Saka. Make no mistake, Gareth Southgate has a wealth of attacking talent at his disposal. Yet, right now, Saka’s name is surely one of the first on the Three Lions team sheet.

His growing influence for England can be no surprise, considering his performances for Arsenal in the last 18 months. What is impressive, however, is his age. Very few players are having - or indeed have had - such an impact for club and country at the age of 21. And he’s not a big fish in a small pond, either – these are the Premier League leaders and the fifth best nation in the FIFA rankings. Bar Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Jr., how many players can lay claim to this at such an age?

Saka’s England career is in its relative infancy (although has not passed without incident), but those who’ve followed his progress at Arsenal will tell you that his stardom has been coming for some time. After Alexis Sánchez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, he has become the go-to Gunner in times of need. The one who saves the day and sells shirts in the process.

How’s it happened, and what next?

What makes Saka so special?

However, he is the only one to have taken this mantle well ahead of his supposed prime years. Ramsey had already turned 24 when he ended Arsenal’s trophy drought by scoring the winner in the 2014 FA Cup final, his 16th goal of the 2013/14 season. Alexis and Aubameyang were 25 and 28 respectively upon arriving at the Emirates. Saka, meanwhile, will not only be a contender for the Player of the Year awards in England come the end of the season – he’s eligible in the Young Player categories, too.

Now let’s look at the right wingers who’ve excelled for the Premier League contenders in recent seasons. Riyad Mahrez was 25 when he lifted the trophy with Leicester (his fourth title, at Manchester City, came last year at 31 years of age). Mo Salah’s Liverpool career also started at 25, as did Willian’s at Chelsea, while Pedro tasted glory with the Blues a few months shy of his 30th birthday. The latter’s compatriot, Juan Mata, was 29 by the time Manchester United eventually mounted a title challenge with him in the side. Only Leroy Sané, who signed for Manchester City at 21, is on a par with Saka.

With 12 goals and ten assists already this season for the Gunners, Saka is, at present, the most effective player in his position in the Premier League.

His journey to the top (of the pitch)

While his first appearances for the Gunners (few and far between, admittedly) came in midfield and attack, it was at left back that Saka first broke into first-team plans in north London. Injuries to Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolašinac in the space of six days meant that Mikel Arteta returned to Arsenal in December 2019 to find the then 18-year-old as his only viable option on the left of defence.

With both teammates fit again following the mid-season break imposed by the pandemic, Saka started ten of his side’s remaining 13 games ahead of the defence. Upon signing a new deal with the club that summer, he operated almost exclusively on the left in the first months of the following season. However, a nosedive in the team’s form saw Arteta shuffle his pack for a 3-1 win over Chelsea, a landmark result in which Saka started on the right and later netted his side’s third.

As fellow right-sided winger Nicolas Pépé ended the 2020/21 campaign as the Gunners’ leading scorer across all competitions, Saka still found himself on the left from time to time. It was only several games into the following season, when Arteta had fully lost faith in the Ivorian, that Saka found his home on the right. By the time the season had ended, he had started all but one of his side’s 38 league games, recording 11 goals and seven assists – no teammate managed more in any of those metrics.

Comparisons with his predecessors

Considering this versatility, Saka’s own development has not been dissimilar to that of Jack Wilshere. The latter broke into the Arsenal squad playing on the right of a midfield four, while he lifted the FA Youth Cup that same season as a right winger in a front three. In a loan spell at Bolton in the following campaign, he made the majority of his starts at left midfield in a 4-4-2 formation. It was only when he returned to his parent club in the summer of 2010 that he took up station in the middle of the pitch.

Of course, Wilshere’s own bid to be the Gunners’ talisman did not go to plan. The chance to fill Cesc Fabregas’ boots following the Spaniard’s return to Barcelona in 2011 was immediately, and cruelly, snatched away by an ankle injury that ruled him out for the entirety of the following season.

It is at this point in the comparison that fans will start to worry. There is no doubt that injuries, and particularly the one suffered in July 2011, cost “Super Jack” dearly, especially if you consider the knock-on effect it had on Arsène Wenger’s plans. The arrival of Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil in subsequent summers saw Wilshere drop down the pecking order of playmakers at the Emirates. Meanwhile, Ramsey’s rise in influence in 2013 meant further opportunities were limited.

Crucially, to date Saka has steered clear of injuries. He has been unavailable for just two games in his brief career - both in the 2020/21 campaign – and, although there was initial concern when he left the pitch against Nottingham Forest in October, he recovered in time to play a part against Zurich four days later. Like Wilshere, though, Arsenal’s number seven takes his fair share of rough challenges from the opposition; only eight players have drawn more fouls in the Premier League this season.

Unlike Wilshere, though, Saka’s dribbling style invites fewer fouls. The former would drive through the centre of the pitch and take a “loose” touch that would tempt the opponent into a tackle he could rarely win fairly. Sometimes he would take the defender out of the game but, unfortunately, on occasion the defender would do the same to him. And it would be a lot more painful.

Saka, meanwhile, usually runs into open space and looks for the pass, or into the penalty area where a defender is less certain of committing a challenge. Furthermore, most of the passes he receives from Martin Ødegaard and Ben White come while he is running from outside to in, or while facing play from the touchline - both of which reduce the likelihood of a challenge from behind that could cause damage.

As for competition for places, Wilshere’s development coincided with (or perhaps was boosted by) Wenger’s love for creative players in the centre. While Arteta has form in helping wingers improve, to date at Arsenal he has only signed clear understudies (Marquinhos) or versatile options (Leandro Trossard) to play in wide positions. Saka is the priority.

What next?

Just as he hasn’t let the heartache of the Euro 2020 final define him, Saka’s career won’t be judged on whether his side win their first title in 19 years in May. What will define his near future, though, is where he spends it.

There isn’t a single side in the Premier League who couldn’t do with the Englishman on the wing right now, with perhaps the exception of Liverpool (even then, Salah is a decade older and surely on his final contract with the Merseyside club). Similarly, there would surely be further suitors abroad if the Arsenal board can’t convince the 21-year-old to extend his stay. Crucially, those challenging for honours at home and overseas would be willing to offer lucrative salaries outside of Arsenal’s wage structure. For the Gunners, his signature would mean more than just three or four more years of his service.

Here would be a key player – the key player – who has consistently delivered, believing in the club and its ambitions. Not only that, but he’d be doing it years ahead of his probable prime. Aubameyang was 30 when he signed on the dotted line in 2020, while the 29-year-old Özil had not reached the heights fans had hoped he would when he put pen to paper five years ago. The only situation that compares to this was when Walcott signed da ting back in 2013. Crucially, none of the three mentioned went on to reach the heights they had done prior to the contract extension.

What a show of faith it would be in the Arsenal project were Saka to stay. He would join Gabriel Martinelli in agreeing a new contract and, given that the majority of Arteta’s core playing staff have been recruited in the last two years, it would give the Gunners a sense of stability moving forward. Furthermore, since the club cannot afford to lose him for free in 2024, it would also avoid the headache of having to negotiate his sale and sign a replacement this summer.

As for Saka, he is currently at one of the youngest teams in the Premier League and working under a manager whose development of wingers was famed before he even became a first team coach. Ending his 14-year association with the club would not be a tragedy for him, but, unlike the main men at Arsenal, the only reasons wouldn’t be a huge pay rise and blind faith.

Wherever he plies his trade next season, it’s going to be an exciting journey for the starboy.