On 29th November 2018, a certain Bukayo Saka was handed his Arsenal debut. The Europa League was the competition, Aaron Ramsey was the man he replaced. The rest, as they say, is history.
In September 2019 he was scoring his first goal for the senior team – again in the Europa League. It was the first of many as he swiftly became a focal point of what was to come.
Unai Emery went, Freddie Ljungberg had a short stint at the helm and then came Mikel Arteta. Together, Arteta and Saka have revived this great football club, putting them back on the map and making them perennial challengers for the Premier League.
Arteta’s astute tactical brain, Saka’s wily style of play and the will of this football club had spurred the Gunners on and they now stand on the precipice of something great.
Saka’s numbers at Arsenal
Saka has seemingly been through it all during his embryonic career to date. From that penalty miss at Wembley in Euro 2020, to his redemption act at Euro 2024, whether it’s with his national team or in Arsenal colours, he’s never been afraid to step up in big moments.
The Englishman is now his club’s number one penalty taker, on regular set-piece duties and is the poster boy for the north Londoners.
Saka may not have won Arsenal’s Player of the Season award for the last two campaigns but let’s be honest with ourselves, he is their most important player. He is their best player.
Last season he ended the campaign as the club’s top goalscorer. The 23-year-old registered career-best figures, scoring on 20 occasions for the first time and supplying 14 assists in all competitions.
Only Belgian sensation Leandro Trossard came close to matching him in the goals department, finding the net 17 times.
The year before, Saka wasn’t quite as prolific but his importance was equal. He scored 15 times and registered 11 assists in all competitions. This was a young man beginning to put himself in the wider consciousness as one of the best wingers around.
Arsenal journalist Charles Watts certainly shared that viewpoint, handing him the crown as ‘the best right winger in the world.’
Saka’s record @ Arsenal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Season | Games | Goals | Assists |
2018/19 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
2019/20 | 38 | 4 | 12 |
2020/21 | 46 | 7 | 9 |
2021/22 | 43 | 12 | 7 |
2022/23 | 48 | 15 | 11 |
2023/24 | 47 | 20 | 14 |
Stats via Transfermarkt. | |||
He might not hit the devastating heights of a Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland but very few full-backs know what to do with him when in a one-on-one situation on the right.
The club’s spritely number 7 has even started the new term on fire. Saka scored against Wolves on the opening weekend and has an assist in all three league matches to date.
So, usurping him from a numbers point of view takes some doing if you’re in the Arsenal team. It might well interest supporters to hear that a player who departed a couple of years ago is actually outscoring him since leaving. That man is Alexandre Lacazette.
Alexandre Lacazette’s numbers since leaving Arsenal
Lacazette had a topsy-turvy time at the Emirates Stadium. Signed by Arsene Wenger in a £46.5m move, a club-record deal at the time, he was seen by many as the club’s new saviour in front of goal.
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The Frenchman started pretty well, scoring on debut against Leicester in 2017/18 but a mix of injuries, poor form and the challenge of best mate Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang proved challenging.
Lacazette’s best season came in 2018/19, finding the net on 19 occasions in 49 matches. It’s a similar record to Saka last term. Yet, the Lyon-born forward was a striker by trade. That sort of number at a club like Arsenal should have been the norm.
Well, he never hit the 20-goal-a-season haul the Gunners were hoping for and he left in 2022 on a free transfer after an admirable service to the football club.
Where did the 33-year-old head next? Back to Lyon, of course, the club he initially signed for Arsenal from.
His record since moving back to France has been rather remarkable. Part of Thierry Henry’s Olympic squad in Paris over the summer, a team he captained to a silver medal, it was a fine reward for his impeccable form back in his homeland.
In 2022/23, Lacazette scored 31 goals in 39 matches while also setting up six goals for his teammates. Last term wasn’t quite on the same level but it was still a seriously impressive run, beating the goalkeeper on 22 occasions in 35 outings with five assists.
In that time, he has outperformed every Arsenal player, including Saka for goals. Arteta and Co will not rue the day they let him walk away from London on a free transfer, but they may well be wondering why it never quite worked out in England. What might have been, eh?
