Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has given praise to Arsenal superstar Bukayo Saka – and claimed he was ‘laughed at’ when he suggested that the player would grow up to be a ‘generational talent’ when he was a teenager.
Wright has made it clear in the past just how highly he rates Saka. In this particular interview, he gave props to his ‘intelligence’ on the pitch and his ability to help the team click by playing unselfishly.
What did Ian Wright say regarding Bukayo Saka?
On the Handbrake Off Podcast, Wright said: “I remember when he first got the number 7 [shirt] and we did a piece about it. Bukayo is someone we have been talking about from an Arsenal perspective.
“I remember saying he was a generational talent and people laughed at me saying I was too close to it, but when you watch him, you see not only is he a fantastically talented player, he’s a very intelligent player the way he plays and it’s all about the team.”
Is Bukayo Saka the best player at Arsenal?
If Saka is not Arsenal’s best player presently, then he is certainly within the top three. We can only think of two others who are on the level of the Gunners academy graduate – William Saliba and Declan Rice.
Saliba has been at the heart of Arsenal’s defence for over a year now. He is everything you could want in a modern centre-back – he is fast, strong, aerially dominant, positionally responsible and he is also a brilliant tackler.
Rice, meanwhile, looks to be worth every penny of his £105 million price tag so far. He is a complete defensive midfielder, able to break up play very effectively and spray the ball around the pitch after winning it back.
Is Saka better than either of these two superstars? We aren’t sure – he is perhaps more integral to the team than Rice is, given the Gunners’ successes last season without him, but we cannot say the same for Saliba.
Without Saliba in Arsenal’s backline, their defence falls to pieces – as evidenced by the poor run of form towards the end of last season that coincided with an injury to the Frenchman.
Meanwhile, if Saka is not available, then the Gunners have many other attacking players they can call upon to score and create goals. As such, we believe Saka is currently the second-best player at the Emirates Stadium.
