Bukayo Saka was born in Ealing, London on the 5th of September 2001. He joined the Arsenal academy at the age of 7, and 20 years later is the key man for a young and ferocious Arsenal side.
A 2021 interview with youth coach Ken Gillard described Saka in his youth “He was always a very effective team player, always influencing games, scoring goals, creating goals, playing different positions. Even at a young age, he could play left-back, left-wing, right-wing, or as a number ten.”
Arsenal's Man
Saka’s first goal for the Gunners came under then-manager Unai Emery away to German side Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on September 19th 2019. He featured another five times in European competition that season, raking in an impressive six-goal contributions.
On the night the 18-year-old also got two assists setting up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and fellow hale-end graduate Joe Willock
Whilst it can be easy to say he got his goal early on in his Arsenal career, it took place 10 years after making his Hale End debut. The then seven-year-old would only dream of scoring on European soil.
And that’s been seen ten-fold by his senior career; deployed as a left back during his introduction to the side, played in the midfield against Manchester City in October 2020 and his preferred right wing.
In both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons Saka was voted Arsenals player of the season, the only other player to have the same feat is footballing icon Thierry Henry. During both seasons he featured 70 times in the league racking up 19 direct goal contributions.
To award the wonder-kid in the summer of 2020 he followed the elite list of icons such as George Armstrong, Liam Brady, David Rocastle, Robert Pires and Alexis Sánchez as Arsenal’s number seven.
In a move which saw Arteta give updated numbers to the trio of Gabriel Martinelli, Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka as a reward for hitting the ground running in their Arsenal careers.
Saka was Arsenal's dynamite for the whole of last season. Spearheading the London side into a title challenge. Whilst they ultimately fell at the last hurdle to the inevitable Manchester City Saka cemented himself as one of the best wingers not only in the Premier League but the world.
The Arsenal-man achieved 14 goals in the league, with notable goals such as a long-range effort against Manchester United and a brace against Liverpool.
England Career
Saka made his England debut against Wales in a 3-0 win, starting alongside Harry Winks and Micheal Keane as a Left wing-back. Following this Saka was called up to the Euro 2020 squad.
He played the third group match against the Czech Republic and was awarded man of the match. Following this he started two out of the next three matches going into the final against Italy, where he was benched for Kieran Trippier in a pragmatic approach from Gareth Southgate.
The winger then came on for Trippier in the 70th minute. The game eventually went to penalties and unfortunately for Saka, he was one of three players to miss their ill-fated penalties.
Following this he was subject to a swarm of racial abuse from his home country. But that didn't stop Bukayo.
He silenced the critics by becoming the first Arsenal player in history to win England's player of the year for his efforts in the 2021-22 season. This is a fantastic achievement in itself but then he went on to win it again for the 2022-23 season.
The World Cup came around in 2022 and by this point, Saka was one of the first names on the teamsheet starting four out of five games (and scoring three goals) during England's run, which was ultimately ended in the quarter-finals by reigning champions France
Saka finally got his first career hat trick in a 7-0 match against North Macedonia that took place on the 19th of June 2023.
What Now?
He is on course for his best season yet, with an astonishing 23 goal contributions, including seven in the Champions League, in 29 games. Saka recently got the fantastic statistic of being the first player since Alexis Sanchez to record 10+ goals and 10+ assists in two consecutive seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17.)
Saka acts as a key role model for young footballers across the country on how to carry yourself, believe in your ability and respond to critics.