Crazy Bukayo Saka stat emerges after his injury – it proves Mikel Arteta made a massive mistake at Arsenal

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Arsenal have suffered a huge injury blow!

Bukayo Saka is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury in the first half of the game against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

The Gunners number seven could now be out of action at least until February. He will be a huge miss for Arsenal and his absence could cost them the league title.

Now, one statistic about the number of minutes Saka has played over the years has emerged, and it is truly ridiculous.

Crazy Bukayo Saka stat highlights Mikel Arteta’s massive mistake at Arsenal

Arsenal fans were all devastated after Saka suffered his injury.

The 23-year-old is their best player and his performances for the Gunners this season have been extraordinary. He has directly contributed to 22 goals in 24 appearances.

When asked for the reason behind his injury, Mikel Arteta blamed the amount of games that Saka has played in recent years. He feels that accumulation is the reason why he tore his hamstring.

The Arsenal manager definitely has a point, but he could’ve done a better job himself – the number of minutes he has made Saka play since the start of the 2020/21 season compared to other forwards at the club is just crazy.

Arsenal, for one reason or another, have decided against signing a like-for-like backup for Saka for years now. The last senior player in that role was Nicolas Pepe.

Gooners have been urging Arteta and the Arsenal recruitment team to bring in a backup, but the fact that they haven’t has forced Saka to play almost every game.

That, as Arteta said himself, resulted in fatigue and eventually caused him to hurt his hamstring. This should teach Arsenal a big lesson going forward.

What Arteta has to do immediately now after Saka’s injury

It’s too late for regrets now – Saka is injured and we won’t see him back in action until around February. That is a massive blow.

Arsenal manager Arteta should learn his lesson now and make sure that Saka is not overworked. He shouldn’t be playing over 4,700 minutes more than the other forwards at the club over the next four years.

The North Londoners should use the January transfer window, or the summer at the latest, to sign a top-class left-footed right-winger to fill in for Saka whenever he needs a break. The Gunners simply cannot afford to repeat the same mistake.

However, it will not be easy to find a player who will be happy to play second fiddle to Saka on the right flank at the Emirates.

If it was up to us, we would go for Johan Bakayoko of PSV Eindhoven.