Arsenal are still on for the quadruple, but Mikel Arteta knows that his side will need to build on Wednesday’s draw in the Champions League.
Kai Havertz salvaged a point with a late penalty, and the Emirates will play host to Bayer Leverkusen next week, domed by a sea of Gunners supporters who will expect to see their side head into the quarter-finals, where they will likely face Bodø/Glimt.
However, there’s no question that the Londoners look tired, and who better to epitomise that than Bukayo Saka, who is the talisman of a side staring at greatness?
What’s going on with Bukayo Saka
First thing first: Saka is one of the best wingers in the world. His energy and enthusiasm and ability to fashion big things from raw material have led to a new bumper contract that makes him the highest earner in Arsenal’s history.
However, he’s only scored six goals and supplied five assists across 26 Premier League appearances this season, and there have been calls for him to be replaced by Noni Madueke, with former Manchester United defender Paul Parker even making the bold claim that he’s “better than Bukayo Saka“.
This isn’t true, but it’s both an illustration of Madueke’s gains since swapping blue for red last summer and Saka’s own struggles throughout the campaign. Against Leverkusen, he was hooked on the hour mark, ineffective, having lost six of eight duels and failed to create a chance.
Saka is elite, but he’s not without his flaws, and there’s reasoning to the claim that he should take a seat against Everton on Saturday evening, especially with so much to play for over the next several months.
|
Bukayo Saka – Premier League Career by Season |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Position |
Apps |
Goals + Assists |
|
25/26 |
26 |
6 + 5 |
|
24/25 |
25 |
6 + 11 |
|
23/24 |
35 |
16 + 12 |
|
22/23 |
38 |
14 + 12 |
|
21/22 |
38 |
11 + 7 |
|
20/21 |
32 |
5 + 4 |
|
19/20 |
26 |
1 + 5 |
|
18/19 |
1 |
0 + 0 |
It’s time for Madueke to step up, but some among the Gunners board must cast a rueful eye toward a former youth player who never made it to the first team, and who is now one of the best players in the world.
The Hale Ender who’s now better than Saka
Arsenal’s Hale End academy is one of the best in the world. With so many talented prospects sprouting up, it would be impossible to keep hold of each and every one of them.
Even so, it must be frustrating that Michael Olise was among those to slip through the coaches’ fingers, with the Bayern Munich star now “the best right winger in the world“, according to The Times reporter Hamzah Khalique-Loonat.
The 24-year-old has been in fine fettle since joining the Germans from Crystal Palace in 2024, notching ten goals and 16 assists across 23 matches in the Bundesliga this year. That it remarkable form, and further evidence that he has been a “world-class player since his Palace days“, as said by analyst Spencer Mossman.
In fact, with 26 assists across all competitions this season, Olise is the leading assist maker across Europe, and it doesn’t look like that individual accolade is going to be snatched from him.
|
Leading Assist Makers across Europe (2025/26) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Player |
Apps |
Assists |
|
Michael Olise |
37 |
26 |
|
Luis Diaz |
36 |
17 |
|
Bruno Fernandes |
28 |
15 |
|
Federico Dimarco |
36 |
15 |
|
Lamine Yamal |
37 |
15 |
The former Eagles maverick is developing into quite the player, the architect in Bayern Munich’s attack and the perfect partner for Harry Kane (incidentally, another one-time Gunners youngster).
Given that Arsenal have this season shown an interest in the player who left them as an academy boy way back in 2009, ultimately not settling in north London and instead moving to Chelsea, where he spent over six years of his formative years.
At this moment in time, Olise is surely the cream of the crop, ahead of Saka, Lamine Yamal, Mohamed Salah et al.
Of course, that’s not to say that Saka won’t take that berth from him in the coming years, and there can’t be many Gunners fans out there who would swap Olise for their starboy.
Olise might just be better than Saka right now. While Saka’s numbers would inevitably rise if he swapped Arsenal for Munich, he has stood out as one of the best wingers in the world in a division as tough as the Premier League since his teenage years, and is more than capable of leading Arteta’s project toward sustained success both domestically and abroad, as he has done over the past years.
Arteta can revive Saka by dropping £34m Arsenal star who’s “dead on his feet”
It’s been a tough few months for Saka at Arsenal.