Bukayo Saka has been one of the Premier League’s best players this season, there’s no doubt about that and he’s now getting compared to some of the best Arsenal legends in the game.
The 21-year-old has been scoring & assisting all season long and that didn’t this evening as he grabbed a goal & an assist for England against Ukraine earlier today.
Dean Jones speaking with GiveMeSport was asked about Bukayo Saka, claiming that the winger has an “unbelievable ability similar to Invincible, Robert Pires”.
Dean Jones on Bukayo Saka:
“Saka has the rawness and unbelievable ability. The way he can turn a game in a second, Pires had all that too. He’s cool under pressure like Pires was. I do think you can make the comparison there.”
Pires was one of the integral parts of the Invincible winning team during the 03/04 season, which as the last time Arsenal won the Premier League title. The Frenchman was versatile, being able to play on both wings and featured in almost every game that season, just like Saka this season.
Robert Pires had 14 goals and 9 assists in the invincible season, which are similar projected stats for Bukayo Saka this season. Bukayo Saka currently has 12 goals & 10 assists in the league so far.
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Pires was famous for his ability on the ball as well as his technique under pressure & beating defenders with ease, similar to what you would associate with Bukayo Saka in an Arsenal shirt under Mikel Arteta.
The Frenchman’s link-up with Thierry Henry was legendary (apart from that penalty…) and Gabriel Jesus could end up forming a similar link-up with Saka when he gets back into the gist of things after his injury.
Image Credit: Getty Images
Not only this but Saka is the first player this Premier League season to get double digits in both goals & assists, showing his true class and importance to this Arsenal Squad. The young English winger now has a transfer value of £105m according to TransferMarkt, which is one of the biggest transfer values in world football.
Saka loves drawing fouls and gets fouled numerous times per game. Because of the number of fouls he takes, with players teaming up on him, this sadly makes him more liable to get injured. Both manager and teammates plead for protection against Saka due to how the ref sometimes fails to help Saka’s cause.
Robert Pires had an unfair reputation for being a bit of a diver and Saka does not want the same treatment. Even though Saka tries his best to stay on his feet, sometimes they’ll be people who’ll call him a diver due to the amount of times he ends up on the deck.
Even so, there is absolutely no denying that both Saka and Robert Pires are two of the best players to ever grace the red & white shirt. Saka is finally making the Emirates a fortress after many of disappointing years and Robert Pires was a history-maker at Highbury.
Robert Pires helped Arsenal win the league in 2003/04, let’s hope Bukayo Saka can do the same for the Gunners in 2022/23.
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