Bukayo Saka in a central role can refresh Arsenal for 2023/24 season

Bukayo Saka is Arsenal’s most-gifted player, but his game became stale during the waning months of the 2022/23 season when his familiar right-wing role made him too easy to defend.

Fortunately, Mikel Arteta can refresh his team by moving Saka centrally more often, something Arsenal experimented with during the 5-0 win over Wolves on the Premier League’s final day.

Saka was among the scorers when Arsenal hammered Wolves, ending a run of five matches without a goal. While his stunning strike came from the flank, Saka offered a fascinating insight into how effective he could be through the middle.

He was able to roam centrally more often because Arsenal’s No. 9, Gabriel Jesus, drifted to the right side. It’s a position Jesus played often during his final season with Manchester City, and the fluidity he showed with Saka should’ve given Arteta food for thought about how to freshen things up for 2023/24.

Arteta knows the value of tweaking the formula, even if it’s a successful one. It’s something he’s seen his old boss Pep Guardiola master at City.

Arteta needs a Guardiola-style in-house tactical tweak

Erling Haaland and endless pots of cash aren’t the only reasons City beat Arsenal to this season’s title. The Citizens continue to top the league because Guardiola updates his tactical template, often by moving familiar faces into new positions.

That meant using a ‘false 9’ during the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons. The latter campaign saw Jesus play wide right more often.

This season, Guardiola found a real (in every sense of the word) no. 9 in the shape of awesome force Haaland. Yet, his arrival didn’t stop the manager from rearranging his team’s shape.

City have gone three at the back and moved central defender John Stones into midfield, where he’s become a conductor of play. Stones is keeping teams guessing the way Oleksandr Zinchenko used to as an inverted full-back, the same role Arteta recruited the Ukrainian to play for Arsenal.

Arteta used the dead rubber against Wolves to try Thomas Partey in a similar way, but his team needs something new upfront.

Saka can cause havoc centrally

Saka’s central wanderings against Wolves were noticed by Sam Dean of The Telegraph.

Dean’s reference to where Jesus moved in order to accommodate Saka through the middle is telling. It speaks to how the Brazilian can reshape Arsenal’s attack.

The new shape was obvious when Granit Xhaka headed the Gunners into the lead on the final day.

Saka hovered around the penalty spot, while Jesus raided the right flank. It’s proof both can comfortably take to playing the other’s position and giving Arsenal extra tactical advantages.

Teams got used to stepping up and squeezing space when Jesus dropped out of the middle into deeper areas. His movement into midfield helped Saka and Gabriel Martinelli cut inside and feast on goals, but the pattern became predictable.

Alternatively, Jesus moving wide makes room for Saka’s direct, central runs. Those runs can take greater advantage of his straight-line pace than trying to win one-on-one duels on the wing.

When he gets into central positions, Saka’s proved he has the coolness and quality to finish. Like for his second goal against Crystal Palace in March.

Letting Saka lead the line will force opponents to defend deeper, naturally in fear of his pace. Saka and Jesus rotating positions back and forth during games can also create chaos along opposing backlines. Full-backs won’t know whether to follow Saka inside, while central defenders will face a dilemma about whether to track Jesus out of the middle.

A greater sense of unpredictability can keep Arsenal in the title picture next season. Playing Saka centrally can also unleash his best attributes more efficiently.