Arsenal star Bukayo Saka has received high praise indeed this week…
What has been said about Bukayo Saka?
Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist and transfer insider Dean Jones waxed lyrical about the Gunners winger as he claimed that the 21-year-old dynamo has an “unbelievable ability” that’s similar to Arsene Wenger’s invincible legend Robert Pires.
“Saka has the rawness and unbelievable ability. The way he can turn a game in a second, Pires had all of that too. He’s cool under pressure like Pires was. I do think you can make comparisons there,” he said.
Does Arteta have his own invincible at Arsenal?
Last time the north London giants clinched the Premier League title was nine years ago in 2004 when they etched themselves in the history books by becoming the only team to go the full season unbeaten.
Known as the ‘invincibles’, Wenger guided Arsenal to 26 wins and 12 draws – it was the first time in 115 years that a team had gone the whole campaign without defeat, and it’s a feat that is still yet to be matched to this day.
Pires played an integral role throughout that season.
The Frenchman, who could play on either wing – like Saka – featured in all but two of the Gunners’ league outings, in which he returned a whopping 14 goals and nine assists. Across all competitions, meanwhile, the two-time champion delivered 19 goals and 13 assists, averaging one direct contribution every 125.5 minutes, via Transfermarkt.
The parallels between that season and now are pretty scary, with Wenger’s men also exiting a European competition prematurely, having lost to arch-rivals Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final.
Pires was renowned for his guile and class on the ball and was often misconceived due to his slender-ish frame, yet was ultimately made of stronger stuff as he ran rampant down the left flank with his trademark and swashbuckling runs, linking up with fellow countryman Thierry Henry almost telepathically.
In some ways, much is the same for Saka, albeit on the opposite flank.
His tenacious ability to glide past the opposition and get into the penalty box has seen him return 12 goals and 10 assists, becoming the first player to reach double figures for both facets in the Premier League this term.
The England sensation, who is now valued at a whopping €120m (£105m) by CIES Football Observatory, often draws a number of fouls each game as his opposite number can rarely get the ball off him, though it has led to both Saka’s teammates and manager pleading for more protection.
Whilst no statistics are available for the campaign, the art of winning free-kicks was second nature to Pires, even if it did strike up an unfair reputation among some peers as him being regarded as a ‘diver.’
However, there is no denying that both Saka and Pires are two of the best wingers to grace the red and white strip of Woolwich Arsenal, the latter doing it arguably in a tougher era at the Emirates Stadium and the former becoming a history-maker at Highbury.
Perhaps Mikel Arteta has his very own invincible in the Hale End prodigy, who was recently lauded as a “mentality monster” by FourFourTwo writer Mark White, especially considering the striking similarities between Saka and Pires.
