Noel Whelan believes that Bukayo Saka could endure a tough summer if Arsenal fail to finish in the top-four.
The youngster has been amongst our best performers since breaking into the first-team at the age of 17, and before the age of 20, he was voted as Arsenal’s Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season and had earned himself a place as a regular in the England senior side.
His progress this season may have been overshadowed by some of his team-mates, but he is enjoying a fine campaign with six goals and four assists from his 20 PL appearances thus far.
Former PL boss Whelan claims that he is set to come under pressure from his agents if his side fail to manage to earn passage into the Champions League, with some of our rivals having been credited with an interest in his signature.
“Saka’s had such a quick rise at Arsenal over the past three seasons,” Whelan told the Football Insider. “He has become a hugely important player and commodity for them.
“Saka will not want to leave Arsenal, he will desperately want to get them into the Champions League this season.
“But there will be pressure from his agent. There will be whispers and people talking because teams in the Champions League will want a player like Saka in their side.”
There is nothing that I’m seeing or hearing from Saka that tells me he would be swayed by any interest from our rivals just yet, and our progress in recent seasons should be enough to keep both him and our other young future stars happy at the Emirates.
I’m not naive enough to think that will remain the case in the long-term however, should we continue to fail to break back into the Champions League, but this summer shouldn’t be much of a big deal, but with just two years remaining on his current deal come the end of the term, we may well want to look at extending his terms in order to protect our interests and assure him of his importance to the club with another wage increase.
Do you think Saka could be persuaded to consider a move to one of our rivals this summer?
Patrick
Stop trying to ramp up pressure whelan!
Arsenal will finish in top four and none of the youngsters will be going anywhere.
We worry about Top 4 then contracts. He wants to get Arsenal into the champions league and he knows now with all his power he has a massive chance of achieving that this season.
In doing that we then surround him with players on par with his level with champions league football at The Emirates once again.
We are only a few signings away from a real challenge In the league title, even more quicker than we think of we manage to secure Top4.
Cmon Arsenal. Can feel me getting pumped up writing this as we won’t get a better chance.
Whelan’s an idiot. Why would Saka be under pressure internally or, externally by his agent ? You might as well go the whole hog and say that any supposed failings on behalf of arsenal will unnerve him.
What Whelan is really saying is he, like a lot of arsenal detractors don’t feel we deserve a player like Saka and compared to other teams such as city, United, Liverpool or Chelsea, we are the poor relations that can’t offer him the success they can. Sure he might swathe into the champions league but it will be on the back of a team who, with their heavy financial backing and a team already well equipped and experienced in this competition and the league. Saka wouldn’t be winning the CL on his own merits but simply being one of a supporting cast.
Yeah his agent would tout a move based on development but to everyone else it would only ever be about the the agents “financial” development.
Whelan and others would love to see all our best players go elsewhere so he would be set up for the next dig at us which would be “Arsenal are so poor, they can’t retain talent”, despite him trying to whisper them away with his foolishness.
As I’ve said before much of those footballing has-beens had little to offer the game in their play time and have nothing to offer it nowadays. Other than taking money under false pretences by claiming to be knowledgeable about the game and its many nuances
it would be silly on the part of his agent(s) to not consider a move elsewhere considering the largely negative brand of football on offer here…it’s not like he would be moving elsewhere to sit on the bench, so that certainly isn’t a point of leverage for our negotiators…likewise, his role here requires him to face constant double-teams, as we rarely providing him with the requisite overlapping runs that someone of his ilk deserves, and as such he’s faced an unusual amount of fouls to his lower extremities, which can be incredibly problematic and taxing even for a younger player…I certainly don’t want him to go anywhere, but it’s hard to argue with the fact that his development has stalled under our current manager and if he really wants to be considered a seminal player he might need to seek greener tactical pastures
Truth is, if we get top 4, i dont see a problem, if we dont, he would be better off moving to a team that would suit his talent better. To keep and attract top players we have to be a top four CL team.
I’m not sure where you get the impression that Saka’s development has stalled under Arteta.
From where I sit his stock keeps rising so genuinely interested to know when you think his progress has stalled.
in most circumstances one’s stock isn’t solely predicated on the player’s pitch production at the club level, especially when it comes to young, developing players, as potential suitors and evaluators alike are banking on a logically calculated up-side…of course, his regular appearances for the national team have certainly provided a substantial boost to said evaluation…if one was only evaluating his offensive production numbers while wearing our kit and he was a few years older, his market evaluation would have definitely dipped…now I certainly don’t want to see him going anywhere, but unless we have a marked change in our offensive philosophy I wouldn’t blame him if he sought more suitable alternative….fact remains, based on what we witnessed early on, I would expect far better goal-scoring and assist numbers by this juncture…are you suggesting otherwise?
sought a more suitable…
Voyager who said he has stalled under Arteta, i said his game would develop better playing under Klopp and Pep. I dont see where your problem comes with that, its not radical or outlandish to say that. What are you getting at. Our style stiffles his potential, that is what i am saying. He would fly playing in a better team under a better manager.
he was directing that comment towards me Reggie…I said Saka had functionally stalled considering how he burst onto the scene and where he currently stands now from a developmental standpoint…I had much higher expectations and, like you, I believe under a better manager he would be far more productive by this point in time
TRVL, he is playing in a team that has a limited attacking style, at a better club under a better manager he would have more freedom to express himself more. Liverpool have an attacking philosophy and Klopp would utilise him better.
agreed Reggie, he was far more effective when taking on opponents early on, but was likely told to slow his roll as MA wants a more possession friendly approach…yet when these more indirect tactics are deployed he faces multiple defenders at every turn, which invariably leads to turnovers or low percentage opportunities anyways…I have no patience whatsoever for things that fail the common sense test, which is an all too common occurrence since MA was handed the keys to the kingdom
Same old rubbish !! Saka is not going anywhere.. He is under contract . He has also stated only 2 days ago that Arsenal was his dream club and he sees himself being there for years to come !! Then you have other media outlets saying the same about ESR !!
when are they going to stop attacking Arsenal from every direction as normal !! even Ex City players are seeing the biased held towards arsenal by pundits and other media outlets !! i am so glad ex pros are now openly coming out and saying how everyone attacks Arsenal for everything !! his words were Everyone is always out for Arsenal everyone why?? why Arsenal every time?
I will tell you why because we are the Pride of London and the only modern day Club in History to go unbeaten for a whole season. To do this with a club that has always relied heavily on youth and hasnt got or ever had the spending power of its richer clubs . It hurts them to see us do what we have as a club without the money the other clubs needed or need !!
Only three clubs have spent more than us under the krankies, we spent the most in the whole of Europe in the summer. Who is attacking us especially, other clubs have the same shit as us, we aren’t any different.
“Jose Mourinho eyeing Arsenal raid in £83m spree as furious rant sparks Roma exodus” This is a headline from the Mirror. You read through it thinking you’ll come across something of substance you will be shocked to find only Xhaka’s (a player most of us are fed up with) name there. The rest of the other players mentioned are from other clubs not even in England. This tells you even the media has an agenda with The Arsenal. They want to unsettle our players and the club as a whole.