Bukayo Saka is having a truly incredible season at Arsenal.
The England star has carried the Gunners on his back for several years now. He helped lay the foundations of Mikel Arteta’s rebuild, and he has been one of the biggest reasons why the Arsenal project has evolved so well.
Saka is firing all cylinders at the moment. He is a threat every single game and even though he has two or three defenders marking him, he almost always finds a way to hurt them.
For Saka to become a true great, his numbers have to go up even more. Arteta has admitted that he is open to changing his position at Arsenal to help him reach that level.
Bukayo Saka’s position could change to help him reach Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s heights
Saka should be really happy with the way he has started this season with Arsenal.
The 23-year-old has scored nine goals and provided 12 assists in 21 games. That is a direct goal contribution every game, which is a stunning record.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool is the only Premier League player who is having a better campaign than Saka, and the Egyptian is one of the greats of the game.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also consistently produced huge numbers – their outputs would make Saka’s tally right now look small.
A journalist asked Arteta if changing Saka’s position and moving him more centrally would help him emulate Ronaldo and Messi’s numbers because those two players’ goal tally went through the roof when they started to play through the middle.
The Arsenal manager admitted that could be a possibility and claimed that he is open to changing Saka’s position in the future, provided someone else can take his place.
Speaking about moving Saka to a more central position, Arteta said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “Yeah. I think that will depend a lot on the qualities and the players who are around him.
“For somebody to be inside instead of outside, somebody has to be outside and that player, that full-back, that attacking midfielder and nine has to allow the space to do that. But I’m certainly very open to keep evolving players.
“Sometimes it’s the role, sometimes it’s the position on the pitch and sometimes there are other things we can do so that he can spend more time in this position because when the ball is far on the opposite side, in the end it’s our choice where we want him, but we’re certainly thinking about these kind of things.”
Saka could emulate one former Arsenal star if he plays as a striker
Saka has proven his versatility over the years at Arsenal.
The Englishman has played almost everywhere on the pitch. From left-back to central midfield and both wing positions, we have seen him thrive in all of those roles.
We still think the right wing is where Saka is at his best, but we can see the number seven delivering great numbers if he is moved to a more central role.
Arsene Wenger used Alexis Sanchez as a striker for a while during the Chilean’s time at the club, and he was absolutely phenomenal there – even though everyone believed he was more suited to a wide role.
We think Saka can be just as effective as Sanchez was, but we can’t see him playing in that number nine position anytime soon.
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