Bukayo Saka has emerged as arguably the most important player at Arsenal this season. The Englishman made his debut three seasons ago, and he has continued to improve.
He is now one of the first names on the team sheet and may even be the captain of the club in the not-so-distant future.
One of his key attributes has been his versatility. Wherever he has been asked to play, he has played that position brilliantly.
Being left-footed, he was initially played as a left-back or on the left-wing by Mikel Arteta.
However, he was recently made a right-sided attacker and he has been delivering fine performances from that position.
Football writer, Harry Symeou wrote about him on 90Mins and tipped him to become the next left-footed player to deliver from the right.
He compared him to the likes of Gareth Bale and Arjen Robben.
He Wrote: “Judging by his assist for Alexandre Lacazette’s goal against Southampton, for which he used his right foot to put a delicious cross into the penalty area on the volley, Saka is confident using both feet, making him extremely difficult to defend against.
“As such, the young England star could go on to emulate some of the game’s greats who have successfully made the switch from one flank to the other. Inverted wingers are a far more common sight in the modern game and with the tendency of full-backs to make over lapping runs more frequently than ever, it could be argued that it’s more important to have the ability to cut in field onto your stronger foot.
“Previous examples of players who made the transition successfully include Gareth Bale, who began his career as a left-back, before progressing forward into a left-wing role before switching to the right. Having made the switch, the Welsh international went on to score 76 goals and provide 54 assists in 186 appearances (via Transfermarkt) from that position and he’s a prime example of somebody who was able to impact the game more by cutting inside.
“The same can be said of Arjen Robben, the Dutchman who went on to become iconic when it comes to inverted wingers. The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich star is another great example of somebody who at his best was unstoppable, despite playing on what would have historically been described as his ‘wrong side’.
“It seems based on what we’ve seen so far, Saka has the temperament and the talent to emulate the aforementioned Premier League greats – so in the words of Josh Kroenke, “Be excited”.”
Wee mans destined for greatness, let’s just hope the vast majority of it is for us gunners!
They edited out part of the quote: “Previous examples of players who made the transtion unsuccessfully include Jake The Peg, Blind Pugh and Nicolas Pepe”.
(Only joking – didn’t mean to malign Jake and Pugh)
Hilarious, unkind and also TRUE! Pepe is much better suited to playing on his natural left side as show at SAINTS.
SOME players, Saka among them, can transition very successfully, while others like Pepe obviously cannot. The trick is in knowing who can and who cannot, surely!
@Jon fox You should be tipped for a technical staff position at Arsenal football club……. Lol
Sam lad, They couldn’t afford my deserved enormous wage! I DON’T WORK CHEAP. Been taking financial lessons off OZILS AGENT!
You are OK guy. Pugh fell over a cliff and died in the story and Jake the Peg, aka Rolf Harris, is keeping a sensible low profile these days.
Saka plays with both feet compared to Pepe who is although talented one dimensional…..if NP can add this unpredictabilty to his game he can become a world beater.As for Saka ,the common sight nowadays is not only wingers wich plays in the”wrong side” but as false nines also a la Messi And Salah and i think he has some attributs in his game of a Salah….