Mikel Arteta makes big Bukayo Saka claim after Ballon d'Or talk prediction
Mikel Arteta has overseen Bukayo Saka's transformation from left back to one of the world's best right wingers ahead of Arsenal's Premier League meeting with Manchester United
by Alan Smith · The MirrorWhen Mikel Arteta named his first Arsenal starting XI, he stuck Bukayo Saka at left back.
Almost five years on the Gunners boss admits he would have never guessed during that draw against Bournemouth that a shy teenager with bags of talent would become one of the game’s most feared right wingers.
Now Arteta considers Saka to be Arsenal ’s “main figure with two or three players at the club.”
And the 23-year-old comes into Wednesday night's meeting against Manchester United with claims from team-mates that he can win the Ballon d’Or. But for Arteta Saka’s conversion has not been a surprise, simply a result of consistent hard work.
“That day [against Bournemouth]? No. But day by day, I started to understand him and see the skillset and the relationships he could generate in the team,” he said.
“I was convinced that long-term, medium-term [left back] wasn’t his position and the team needed another kind of threat, creativity and that he could provide those moments.
“We moved him, first to the left and then to the right, and we started to see naturally it was the position in which he felt more comfortable.”
It may be too easy to say Saka was a boy when Arteta was appointed and is now a man. But Arteta “can tell” his personality has transformed.
“In the way he presents himself, the way he talks, the decisions that he makes,” Arteta added. “He has a massive role in the team. He is deciding matches for us. He has earned the right to be that way but at the same time he has stayed so humble, close and charming to everybody.”
In the past three games Saka has scored three and assisted four, leading his team out of a blip that threatened to derail their campaign. Yet the impact captain Martin Odegaard returning from injury has had on Saka cannot be underplayed either.
The pair enjoy a rare chemistry, described by Arteta as “something that is very difficult to put a number to”, and the Norwegian’s mere presence ensures Saka is no longer being suffocated by opponents.
There were times during Odegaard’s two-month absence with an ankle injury when three defenders were tasked with quietening Saka.
But in the past 10 days he has found more freedom to cause havoc because if defences commit too much they know Odegaard will find another way to hurt them.
“Everything has a knock-on effect,” Arteta said. “The opponent as well. I’m sure they plan how to stop certain qualities and threats we have. Our job is to try to find other mechanisms to continue to be a threat if there is space or not space.”
Arteta sees a similar relationship between centre-backs Gabriel and William Saliba. Yet he could not stop himself from making a comparison with perhaps the greatest midfield of all time when asked how rare it is to have players such as Odegaard and Saka operating so instinctively.
“I always think about Barcelona with Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta - it was unbelievable,” Arteta added. “They didn’t even need to look at themselves.
“Our two centre backs - naturally there is a chemistry there that is unbelievable. We try to develop those more and more because there is something there that is very difficult to put a number to it. But [Odegaard and Saka are] close in a natural way and the more relationships you have make the team the better.”
That is down to Odegaard offering “a quality that is very difficult to see” but ultimately comes down to team-mates trusting him.
“When I talk about that it’s because he earns it every single day,” Arteta said of his standard-setter. “With the way that he conducts himself, the way he talks to people and the way he is constantly pushing each other to get the highest standards possible.”
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