Mikel Arteta believes Bukayo Saka is now someone Arsenal can rely on to step up and perform, regardless of the opponent or the scenario.
Bukayo Saka has made an impactful return from injury in recent weeks, with a goal and an assists against Fulham in the middle of the Premier League title run-in, and a winner against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg.
Arsenal are now just four games away from two potential trophies, and a large slice of the credit has to go to Saka and his 19 goal contributions, despite a few injury setbacks this season.
Speaking about his star winger ahead of Sunday’s game against West Ham United, Mikel Arteta suggested Saka has ‘something special’, and that he’s someone who can be relied upon regardless of the scenario.
“Obviously his role has grown around the club, around the team and on the pitch towards the opponent as well,” Arteta said. “You sense that. He has got a presence now, he has got an aura. He has got something special.
“He is a different player, he is a player that can change a game at any moment. And creating that fear in the opponent is something important.
“We would have loved to have him much more in recent weeks. But, I said to him, ‘if that’s the case, let’s use this in the best way — which is you are going to jump in fresh, motivated and with a different emotional state. You can really impact the team now’.
“I feel extremely lucky, and I said this from the beginning, to find somebody at the club that you can lean into at any level. Knowing that he’s going to respond.”
Arsenal certainly need someone to lean on right now, three wins away from guaranteeing the Premier League title before heading to Budapest for the Champions League final.
Sunday’s trip to West Ham is arguably the most difficult of the remaining league fixtures, against a side in dire need of a win to secure their Premier League future.
Burnley are already down, Crystal Palace will finish mid-table and have a Europa Conference League final to think about. But West Ham will be fully motivated, and it’s up to Arsenal to deal with that and ensure their quality shows through.
- Declan Rice wins Arsenal award againDeclan Rice has won Arsenal’s Player of the Season award for the second year running after receiving 44 per cent of the supporters’ vote.
- Arsenal star unlikely to start for England v Ghana due to fitness issuesBukayo Saka is unlikely to start against Ghana as England continue to manage the Arsenal winger’s recovery from an Achilles problem.
- Coventry manager to extend contract pre-Arsenal clashFrank Lampard appears set to extend his contract with Coventry City this summer, guaranteeing that he’ll be in the dugout for their opening Premier League match against Arsenal in August.
- Arsenal put £86m price tag on Real Madrid targetReal Madrid’s pivot from Riccardo Calafiori to signing Marc Cucurella may be explained by the fact that Arsenal were asking for £86m for the defender.
- Germany teammate praises Havertz for surprising reasonGermany’s Nico Schlotterbeck has praised Arsenal’s Kai Havertz for a surprising reason, suggesting the forward is faster than you might think.