It's time we finally take notice of Bukayo Saka

When talking about the best wingers in the world, the usual suspects come up in discussion. The likes of Vinicius Junior, Mohammed Salah and even Phil Foden capture the imaginations of football fans worldwide

However, caught in between the hype is Arsenal's Bukayo Saka. Despite two world-class seasons for his boyhood club Arsenal, Saka often gets overlooked for more pacey and technically strong wingers. Of course, the Gunners' struggles early on in his career did not help matters either. These factors have seen Saka rarely mentioned as one of the world's best wingers, even though he has been one of, if not the best player in his team over the past two seasons.

However, after seeing several people place Saka outside of the top category of wingers in the Premier League, with some even alleging that he shouldn't even start for England at Euro 2024, I think it's high time we give Bukayo Saka his flowers.

While many people would argue that Saka does not have as many goals and assists as the "elite" wingers, he compensates by adopting a playstyle that makes him indispensable for both his club and country, becoming one of the best outlets for chance creation in all of Europe.

Over the course of this article, we will look at Saka's strengths and why he may be overlooked in favour of other wingers before analysing the niche he has carved out for both club and country.

New Beginnings

Despite plying his trade as a right winger, Saka started his professional career for Arsenal playing in several positions, sometimes even as a left-back. Although he didn't feature in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Chelsea in the 2020 FA Cup Final, his impressive performances saw him finish third in Arsenal's Player of the Season polls.

Saka, thanks to his impressive work rate, would eventually separate himself from the rest of the competition and cement himself as Arsenal's right winger, ahead of Nicolas Pepe, who was the club's then-record signing, where he has continued to shine. He would also become an England international and make his debut against Wales in 2020 and would find himself selected for the English squad for the delayed European Championships in 2021.

However, it was only shortly thereafter that Saka would face the biggest challenge of his career. Though early signs looked promising, with Saka scoring his first England goal in a friendly against Austria, before winning the Man of the Match award in England's group stage game against the Czech Republic, he would be substituted late into the final against Italy, where he would miss his penalty, which would see Italy lift the Henri Delaunay Cup for the second time.

Despite facing criticism from the media and fans, and falling victim to a vile racist campaign, many were optimistic about the prospects of the then-19-year-old.

In the following 2021/22 season, Saka immediately sought to right the wrongs and used his backlash as motivation to have his best season till then. He scored 12 goals and assisted 7 across all competitions, spearheading an otherwise flat Arsenal attack and was instrumental in helping the Gunners finish in the UEFA Europa League spot, just narrowly missing out on a spot in the Champions League.

Aside from the numbers, pundits and fans could also see the attributes of a future superstar on full display. It was nearly impossible to dispossess Saka, whose control of the ball was, and still is, one of the best in the league. He also showed his stellar vision, feeding the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Emile Smith-Rowe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with crosses into the box.

His work rate was also next to none, which was starting to bear results. He had now won Arsenal's Player of the Season for two years running and had been nominated for a slew of awards, such as the Premier League Player of the Season and PFA Young Player of the Year. Saka was quickly heralded as a "once in a lifetime" prospect by Arsenal fans, who looked to have their first great attacker since Alexis Sanchez.

He would follow this with an even better 2022/23 season, scoring 15 goals and providing the assist for a further 11 goals, fronting an unlikely challenge for the title for Arsenal since their Invincibles season in 2003/04, although they would ultimately fall just short in the home stretch of the season.

Saka continued his ascension the following season, having arguably his best season, being named England's Player of the Year for the second year running, and even breaking Arsenal's record for most consecutive appearances. Most importantly, when the team was lacking in goals in the first half of the season, he carried Arsenal's attacking core, thus exhibiting his growth as a player.

The most underappreciated player?

Nevertheless, despite the progress he has shown throughout the nascent stages of his career, another theme of Saka's time at the big leagues is getting constantly overlooked by the fans and media, despite his talents being on full display.

For many, goals are the best way to quantify a forward's production on the pitch, and when comparing two forwards. This is why in the 2023/24 season, when young stars such as Cole Palmer and Phil Foden had their breakout seasons, scoring more than Saka, he was almost instantly relegated to the status of a second-rate winger.

However, I find it inappropriate to simply reflect on a player's contributions to his team by looking at just his goals tally. And contributes more than just goals for both club and country.

The 2023/24 season saw Saka emerge as one of the best young forwards in Europe, as his 34 goal contributions this season were the highest in all of Europe for players aged 23 or under, which was more than the likes of Jamal Musiala and Jude Bellingham.

He ranked ninth in xG (Expected Goals) and finished second in xA (Expected Assists) for Premier League players, which is one of the best outputs for a player in the Premier League, in terms of goal contributions.

They say the best ability is availability, and Saka is one of the best in the league in terms of minutes played. His 2936 minutes this season is the third-highest for any forward in the league.

He also showed his consistency for the Gunners, as he became their first-ever player in Premier League history to score or assist against every team he has faced.

Aside from the stats, Saka showed remarkable ability in analysing the game, ensuring that his creative spark is retained, while also playing with a sense of responsibility to not lose the ball cheaply. Throughout the season, his maturity has been comparable to those of season veterans, such as his club teammate Jorginho.

What makes Saka one of, if not the most important player for Arsenal is his versatility. Although his days as Arsenal's left back are now long gone, he can still help Arsenal's defense close out games, while also creating the most chances for his team this season, amongst all wingers playing their trade in the Premier League, while also possessing the ability to play as a left winger.

Unfortunately for Saka, however, the league failed to take notice of his prowess, as he failed to even find himself nominated for the Premier League's Player of the Season, which was won by Foden. Outrageously, Saka didn't even finish in the top three of his own club's Player of the Season rankings, falling behind Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and William Saliba.

Despite his talents, many began doubting his tag as a world-class winger, with pundits such as Gary Neville and Jeff Sterling even suggesting that it would be in the best interests of the Three Lions to not start him at the European Championships, or possibly play him as a left-back to accommodate for other English talents, as suggested by Ian Wright.

However, people fail to recognise his contributions in an England shirt when making such statements. Saka was named England's Player of the Year in September 2023, an award he won for the second year running. Without Saka, England does not have much for them going forward and has thus slumped to an uncharacteristic loss against Iceland, as well as draw to Belgium and a loss against Brazil, a game in which both Foden and Palmer started in. Saka has also been one of the only few bright spots in England's otherwise forgettable Euro 2024 group stage, forming a dynamic duo with Trent Alexander-Arnold on England's right hand side.

In the 2023/24 EPL Season, Saka finished fourth in Expected Threat (xT), a metric that measures how much more likely a team was to score if the ball fell to a particular player in their team. Saka finished fourth in this category, further proof of how valuable he is to Arsenal's attack.

Despite not being fully fit, England manager Gareth Southgate still opted to start Saka in England's opening game at the Euros, ahead of the likes of Cole Palmer and Phil Foden (who was moved to the left wing), showing just how integral some of the game's greatest minds view him in relation to their squad. He rewarded Southgate's trust in him by assisting Bellingham for the game's only goal - taking his goal contributions for England up to 27 in just 24 games, which is a stellar rate when considering the quality of opponents that England face regularly.

It's more than clear that while Saka is by no means the flashiest winger in the league, he more than gets the job done for both club and country.

All of this leads me to wonder - as one of the most readily available players in the league, along with consistently finding himself highly ranked across several categories, when can we unanimously agree that Saka is simply put, one of the best wingers of this generation?

There certainly isn't a shortage of talented wingers in football right now, and with Saka's lack of trophies with his team, along with the fact that he isn't as aesthetically pleasing as many of his peers, it may be difficult to place Saka in the same tier of wingers as the likes of Mohammed Salah and Vinicius Jr.

But I believe that either of the factors mustn't be the be-all and end-all when judging wingers. After all, Saka can elevate the team he plays for, all while ensuring his numbers are up there with the best wingers.

When looking at a metric called Expected Offensive Value Added, a metric that aggregates the non-penalty x-G/A of a player, and then subtracts their expected assists. This statistic is used to measure a player's contribution to his side's attack. What makes this statistic unique is its ability to be unaffected by a player's position on the football field, allowing for an objective analysis of a player's attacking output, regardless of their position. Saka ranks second in this metric, behind only Liverpool winger Mohammed Salah.

Saka can also combine well with his teammates, finishing second in the Premier League for completed one-twos, trailing only West Ham's Paqueta, while he also finished third in the league for open-play xA, which measures a player's expected assists without set pieces. The latter statistic is especially useful, as it allows us to analyse an attacker's performance when they are not afforded the luxury of space and time that set pieces offer.

All of these statistics show that Saka is one of the most complete wingers on the planet right now. No single player has consistently ranked as high across several statistics, as is the case with Saka, and it is absurd that Saka isn't regarded by many in the game to be an elite-level winger. From his sheer efficiency to his ability to bring out the best in his teammates, Saka has been able to establish himself as one of the most impactful players in Europe, and by far the most valuable asset of Arsenal's team.

So as long as Saka can maintain the aspects of the game that have defined his short, yet illustrious career, and elevate both Arsenal and England into new dimensions, I think it's about time we finally take notice and give Saka his flowers.

Data taken from Soccerment and Transfermarkt.