WHAT A KICKER!

His flair on the pitch has seen Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka being lauded as one of the most talented players in football today

- NASIFA SULAIMAN

HE LOOKS younger than his 21 years, smooth-faced and almost angelic, but don’t let it fool you. Bukayo Saka has the instincts of a killer, ready to pounce on the ball like

a cat – and his prowess on the pitch is making him one of the top players in the English Premier League.

The Arsenal midfielder scored a superb long-range goal in a recent match against Manchester United, making him only the third Gunners player in history to score against the Red Devils in three successive games.

Going into the match, Saka knew he could write his name next to Arsenal legends Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg if he scored and he was ready to rise to the occasion.

“Challenge accepted,” he said before the game. “It will be a pleasure to be in the company of those two elite players, so I hope I can do it.”

He not only did it, he did it brilliantly, netting the ball in the 52nd minute, contributing to Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over United and cementing their team’s spot at the top of the league. Saka has been called “a very rare” talent by some of the biggest names in football.

“Usually it’s the wingers who are the flair players,” says former United and England star Rio Ferdinand. “They’re always rushing. Bukayo is the opposite. He slows down in the key moments. And that I find for a kid – what is he, 21? – that’s very rare.”

Saka was named Arsenal’s player of the 2021/2022 season and was one of England’s stars in his first Fifa World Cup last year. Here’s everything you need to know about one of Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta’s main men.

A SHINING START

As a kid growing up in Ealing, West London, with his Nigerian-born parents, Yomi and Adenike Saka, Bukayo was seldom seen without a soccer ball.