Ex-Arsenal and Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna claims Bukayo Saka has been the “best player” in England this campaign.

While he acknowledges that Erling Haaland will get all of the plaudits, after scoring an incredible 28 goals in 26 league appearances, Sagna believes Saka has been more influential for his team:

“He [Saka]’s been the best player in the Premier League this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Erling Haaland is crowned PFA Player of the Year but up until now I don’t see any other player that’s had a bigger impact on their team than Bukayo.”

“Many of the players in Arsenal’s team deserve massive credit as they’ve been really solid but I believe the way that Bukayo has been improving, the way he’s been attacking, the way he’s been creating and scoring goals has been really important for the team.”

“Hopefully he can stay injury free. He’s very young, he’s going to improve, he’s a brilliant player already and I believe he has the greatest impact in this current Arsenal team. To have that consistency, game after game, has been absolutely fantastic.”

There is certainly an argument to be made for Saka having a greater impact. He’s been pivotal in some of the Gunners’ most important victories during their unlikely title challenge this season.

Without him, they probably wouldn’t have secured the three points in games versus Liverpool and Manchester United, while he has produced other moments of real quality throughout the course of the campaign.

Considering Haaland’s extraordinary goalscoring record, it’s hard to argue against the Norwegian getting most of the attention but, as Sagna has played for both teams, he is probably better placed than most to make a definitive judgement on the two players.