Arsenal vs Qarabag: 5 key players in rare “free” match

4. Bukayo Saka

Full disclosure: I had not heard a thing about Bukayo Saka until the year started. Buzz around the youth team was pretty strong with him, so I started paying more attention and everything that I saw was brilliant. His speed, his directness, his ferocity, it was all brilliant.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Then he started to polish off his own moves with beautiful, long-distance goals and, all of a sudden, we have another young super-star in the making at the tender age of 17, who can sit at the same table as Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.

What makes Saka so special, though, is that he plays a position of immediate need and he plays it exactly the way we’d want him to – with that aforementioned speed and directness, as well as being an actual left winger, and not just a striker or central attacking midfielder posing as one.

If Saka can take his chances, he may be next year’s Reiss Nelson. And the best part is, Nelson doesn’t block his path, as Nelson is more right-sided. Meaning that Saka has a lot of control over his own destiny.

Put that kind of prospectus on the plate of any young player and you can find out pretty quickly how far off they are from being ready for first team opportunity.

Moving on to a usual at No. 3.