Arsenal: You have to get Bukayo Saka’s contract signed
By Marc Gibbons
Bukayo Saka continues to ravage the Premier League while his long-term stay at Arsenal remains questionable. Time to get this sorted out now.
Bukayo Saka‘s impressed so much this season that the giants of football are already casting admiring glances and with his contract up at the end of next season, Arsenal need to be doing all they can to tie his long-term future to the club.
Another game against Everton and another assist making it ten for the season. When you consider that the majority of these assists have come from an unfamiliar left back role it, makes the statistic all the more impressive.
Arsenal have a rich history of bringing academy players into the first team. Over the last few seasons we have seen a few young players step up and impress, but I don’t think any one of them has gotten the Arsenal fans talking as much as Saka. In fact, in my near 30 years of supporting the club, I don’t think I have ever seen a player make such an impact in their first year after stepping up from the academy.
He reminds me of a young Ashley Cole, only twice as good and I hope he can leave more of an impression at the club than he ever did.
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The question is what do we do with him when we have a fully fit squad and Kieran Tierney is back in the fold? Do we keep him playing in the leftback position where he has excelled so much and leave Tierney out or do we move him to his more natural attacking left winger position and have him form a dream partnership with Tierney down the left-hand side?
Imagine having two natural crossers of the ball firing into the area for 90 minutes. One thing that is certain though, he’s definitely not being dropped anytime soon.
At 18-years-old, we have a player who has the potential to not only be one of the best players at the club but also one of the best in the league. If Arteta is serious about making this club great again then he should he looking to build a team around him. Contract negotiations are supposedly under way and we are making steps to get his future tied to the club.
I hope that negotiations are running smoothly and it’s just a simple case of smoothing over the finer points and it’s not that Saka’s head being turned by the reported interest elsewhere. A lot will depend on the direction that the club want to go in and I’m sure he would want to be at a club at the top-level, not at a club fighting for the top six.
Whatever happens though, I’m sure Buyaka Saka has a massive future in the game and I hope it’s one we as Arsenal fans can remember fondly rather than one filled with regret.