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.
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