Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is country’s leading young talent, fit for Champions League stage

It is little wonder Arsenal want to tie Bukayo Saka down to a new long-term contract.

After a painful end to last summer’s Euros, Saka has bounced back and his performance during yesterday’s win at Watford underlined how he is currently the best young player in the Premier League.

No player under the age of 21 has been directly involved in more goals this season, with Saka’s latest strike and assist taking his tally to 13 and firing Arsenal to a 3-2 win that lifts them to fourth in the Premier League.

If you stretch the field further to Europe’s top five leagues, then only Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz has more combined goals and assists than Saka this season.

“I think Bukayo had an experience in the summer that not a lot of players would ever have and I think it was great for his career, because the football world showed how much they like him and how much they respect him,” said Mikel Arteta.

“That’s another thing you get much more than that in football apart from winning trophies, so I think that was a big boost for him to realise in difficult moments that people are going to give him support and the club did exactly the same as his team-mates.”

That penalty miss at Wembley against Italy in the final of Euro 2020 already feels a long time ago and did even more so yesterday as Saka terrorised Watford.

Arteta had, before the match, urged his team to show a “killer instinct” and no one followed those orders more expressly than Saka.

This was not the controlled performance Arsenal demonstrated against Wolves last time out, but it was a ruthless one. They ended the game with four shots on target and three of those were goals.

Saka was at the heart of all of them, combining brilliantly with Martin Odegaard for Arsenal’s opener.

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

A stunning volley by Watford’s Cucho Hernandez swiftly pegged Arsenal back, but by the half-hour mark Saka had put the Gunners ahead after this time combining with Alexandre Lacazette.

For Arsenal’s third, and ultimately winning goal, Saka took a quick throw which resulted in a slick move that Gabriel Martinelli emphatically finished.

A late Moussa Sissoko strike made the last few minutes nervy and underlined Arsenal’s lack of control, but in the end they got the win that means they are fourth and a point clear of Manchester United with three games in hand.

“We scored three magnificent goals but we didn’t have the same energy and commitment defensively,” said Arteta.

“When that happens, to win a game from home, you’re going to suffer. That’s why we suffered today - because defensively we didn’t have the right structure.”

Arsenal’s success this season has largely been down to their young players and it is fitting they are rising to the occasion as the pressure mounts.

Saka was excellent at Vicarage Road but was so Odegaard, and the pair’s relationship is growing every week.

Then there is Emile Smith Rowe, who missed yesterday’s match after testing positive for Covid-19. Saka is leading the way for goals and assists by Premier League players under the age of 21, but Smith Rowe is second to him and ahead of Phil Foden. Martinelli is fifth on that list.

It all points to a bright future for Arsenal, but suddenly they have the chance to make the present just as exciting.

After a miserable start to the season, when they lost their opening three Premier League games, Champions League football is within Arsenal’s grasp - and that is exactly where Saka belongs.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in