Bukayo Saka has established himself as Arsenal’s talisman in recent years, but like all top players, he needs other talented footballers around him to be at his best.
The winger broke through into the Gunners’ first team in 2019 and has since made 265 appearances across all competitions for his boyhood club, scoring 71 goals.
Saka is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, which saw him miss Mikel Arteta’s side’s trip to Anfield on Sunday.
The North Londoners missed the England international’s partnership with Martin Odegaard on Merseyside, with the Norwegian only fit enough to start the game from the bench.
Glenn Murray says William Saliba makes Bukayo Saka play much better
Odegaard and Saka have formed a deadly partnership in the last few seasons, consistently combining with each other on the right-hand side of Arsenal’s attack to create chances.
The Gunners don’t perform to the same level in the final third when the two players aren’t both on the pitch together, with no other offensive combinations in Arteta’s squad carrying the same threat.
However, former Brighton striker Glenn Murray believes a different player holds the key to unlocking Saka.
Speaking on the Weekend Wrap on Stan Sports after Arsenal lost to Liverpool, Murray said William Saliba brings out the best in the 23-year-old wide forward.
“That foundation of Gabriel [Magalhaes] and Saliba,” he said.
“It looks really innocuous, this here, but when you lose that foundation, Arsenal lose that X-factor, because it allows players like Saka to go and create.
“They couldn’t get [Eberechi] Eze on the field from the start here, but they have so many more options now.”
Arsenal missed William Saliba’s passing against Liverpool
Murray is right; Saliba is an exceptional passer from deep areas, and regularly finds Saka on the wing with ease.
Noni Madueke was having a field day against Milos Kerkez on Liverpool’s left, but the Gunners weren’t able to exploit this frequently enough, as they couldn’t feed the new signing the ball consistently.
The former Chelsea man finished the game having taken 28 touches, and it’s not unreasonable to suggest that if he’d had merely ten more, he could have created a seriously dangerous moment inside the Liverpool box.
Saliba, who has been described as ‘colossal’, would have helped the right-winger get more into the game, with his expert distribution out to that side a key feature of Arsenal’s build-up.
It was a huge blow for the Gunners to lose their star Frenchman so early in the match.
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