How Arsenal's perfect pupil Bukayo Saka rose to the top of the class
In the aftermath of Arsenal’s victory over Sheffield United on Sunday, it was strange to hear Mikel Arteta describe Bukayo Saka’s week as “difficult”.
Saka had just scored his first goal of the season, a fine header into the top corner, to cap a remarkable few days in which he had played in the Carabao Cup side that defeated Liverpool on penalties and received his first call-up to the England senior team. What could be difficult about that?
“Playing twice at Anfield, as well as all the attention he got from the media after his call-up, you have to show a lot of temperament and manage your emotion,” Arteta explained. “I think he did that really well, with a lot of maturity.”
Arteta’s comments showed there is still some caution in his approach to managing Saka, but there will not be a single person at Arsenal who is surprised that the teenager has taken it all in his stride. This is the most level-headed of 19-year-olds, grounded off the pitch and intelligent beyond his years on it, and who said he would mark his remarkable week by "going home, celebrating a little with my family and then packing my bags".
It was a strange twist of fate for Saka that he was called up for England on Nigeria Independence Day. He is extremely proud of his heritage — his parents grew up and met in Nigeria — and choosing England was not an easy decision, even if he had already represented them multiple times at youth level.
To those who know Saka, he has always come across as a deep thinker. He was a conscientious student at school, often doing his homework in the car as his parents drove him from their home in Greenford, west London, to Arsenal’s academy and back. In his GCSEs he achieved three As and four A*s, including an A* in business studies.
At Arsenal’s training ground Saka makes an effort to learn the names of the support staff, a small gesture but one that many players do not bother with. He knows the club’s history, and understood what it meant when he was given the No 7 shirt — once worn by the likes of Robert Pires and David Rocastle — at the start of this season.
“It shows how much the club believes in me,” he said in the summer. “I would not say it puts added pressure on me. The only pressure I feel is pressure I put on myself to make a difference in games.”
Ever since he broke into the Arsenal first team last season, Saka has shown the mental strength — as well as the obvious technical ability — to thrive at the highest level. So impressive has he been for Arsenal that his selection for England has felt like an inevitability for months.
The easy assumption to make about Saka is that he is a player in the same mould as Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho or Callum Hudson-Odoi. Young wingers tend to impress with their speed and trickery, taking on opposition full-backs and unleashing an array of stepovers, all ready to be packaged in a YouTube highlights reel. Saka, though, is different.
He is quick, of course, but his game is not built on electrifying pace. Nor is he a silky dribbler, weaving between challenges. Instead, Saka’s primary skill is his decision-making, and his knack for picking the right pass at the right time. This is how he has become so important for Arsenal, where he produced assist after assist from the left side last season and was subsequently rewarded with a new long-term contract.
It is often said that teenagers, especially young wingers, lack 'end product'. Not Saka, who has been effective in a variety of positions under Arteta. He has featured at left-back, left wing-back, left wing, right wing and even in a more central position in midfield.
As Gareth Southgate continues to alter the shape of his England side, Saka provides him with plenty of options. “He can play a number of different roles very comfortably,” said the England manager last week.
At one point in the next few years, Saka will no doubt hope to nail down a single position as his own. Versatility can be a great strength when it comes to making it into England squads, but perhaps will not help him to become a regular starter for the first team. Left wing-back appears to be his most natural position at the moment, although that may change as he begins to fill out his frame.
England is another step up, another test in his development, but there are no doubts at his club that Saka is ready for the challenge.
