Arsenal: The 3 most ready young players to start

1. Bukayo Saka

Usually, what prevents young players from being ready to play on a regular basis is consistency, reliability, and, most crucially, the ability to perform the smaller, more frequent moments of the position. Many young players can produce sensational moments, but can they be a positive influence throughout an entire 90-minute match?

Despite playing out of position, the most impressive aspect of Bukayo Saka’s emergence in the second half of the season is not his assists, his dribbling skill, or even the odd goal he has scored, though they are sensational moments; instead, it is the consistency of his performances and his ability to rarely make a mistake.

There are, of course, some defensive issues that must be addressed, but in possession, Saka is superb. He rarely loses the ball, he makes very few poor decisions, and when he does take risks, they are in the right areas of the pitch and invariably come off. It is this cerebral, intelligent, high-level decision-making that makes him reliable. And this is what managers love.

Saka might only be 18, but he is already one of the most dependable players in the squad. That, more than anything else, makes him wonderfully ready to play, despite his youthfulness.