At just 18 years old, academy graduate Bukayo Saka has more than risen to the occasion during his breakthrough season at the Gunners. After starting the season a winger, injuries to Sead Kolasinac and newly-acquired Kieran Tierney saw Saka slot into the left-back position in what seemed to be simply a temporary fix at Goodison Park.
However, a solid display saw the boy from West London remain Arsenal's first choice left-back for weeks to come, before Sead Kolasinac returned from injury and regained his position in the starting line-up in the 2-0 win against Manchester United. His cameo didn't last long, though, as Saka returned to the XI just a few weeks later, and it is since this point that he has truly cemented his role as Arsenal left-back for the foreseeable future.
He played a crucial role in the 4-0 hammering of Bournemouth in the FA Cup Fourth Round, with both a wonderful goal and an assist to boot. Not only this but he was just as impressive on the other side of the pitch, not being dribbled past once all game and winning half of his overall duels. This cup competition has received far from Saka's best in the two games he has featured in so far this season, though, with his best form coming in Europe.
Here, Bukayo Saka has been one of the standout performers of the whole competition in 2019/2020, boasting a very impressive 2 goals and 5 assists in just 5 appearances. On top of this, he has accumulated a 50% crossing accuracy so far in the campaign which, when compared to Trent Alexander-Arnold's 17% and Andy Robertson's even lower 15% (in the Champions League), really demonstrates his exceptional strength in picking out his teammates from the flank. The Liverpool pairing also share a combined assist of just 1 when playing in Europe this season, despite them both having played more games than the Arsenal youngster (6 and 7 respectively).
When compared to the top youngsters from across Europe's top 5 leagues, Saka doesn't go unnoticed. In all competitions this season, only Jadon Sancho (32) and Arsenal's own Gabriel Martinelli (13) come out on top of him in terms of total goal involvements (12) (Stats from @Orbinho on Twitter). The 18-year-old is also one of only two members of this top 6 list to boast more assists than goals, with 9 versus 3, highlighting his admirable eye for a pass and ability to pick out his Arsenal teammates. Additionally, his ball-work and dribbling skills shouldn't go unrecognised - he is more than capable of taking a player on, as Lazaro found out during Newcastle's heavy 4-0 loss at the Emirates.
Is it too early for his name to be thrown around for the Euros in the summer? Not for me, personally, however whilst I of course would love to see him there, I feel he would benefit off of more time to develop before being thrown into the deep end by Gareth Southgate. He will gave a decision to make, though, as I can definitely make a case for Bukayo Saka being England's second best left-back right now, behind only Ben Chilwell, however all may soon change with the Leicester man's current dip in form. It will for sure be an interesting story to keep an eye on but with that decision still to be made, one thing is for certain: Arsenal have got a bright star with a potentially very promising future at the club, and must ensure he signs a new contract before he moves on and further proves his worth elsewhere.
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