FC Internazionale Milano v Arsenal FC - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 - Source: Getty
FC Internazionale Milano v Arsenal FC - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 - Source: Getty
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho believes in his teammate Bukayo Saka's abilities and wishes to see him win the Ballon d'Or. The Italian midfield dictator joined the Gunners in 2023 and has spent nearly two years playing alongside the England international.
Bukayo Saka has become one of the most important players at the Emirates Stadium. Breaking through the academy and into the first team in 2018, the 23-year-old winger has become highly instrumental to their style of play. He has scored 65 goals and provided 61 assists in 244 games for the club.
Saka has gone from strength to strength with Arsenal, and this is why Jorginho believes he could win the Ballon d'Or one day. He said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast:
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“He’s world-class. I said to him, ‘I want to see you win the Ballon d’Or.’ I believe [he can win it]. I hope he’s believing in himself as well. He’s just an unbelievable player who is becoming like a machine for us. I hope he becomes like that for England as well. His talent and his hunger and his quality is just so high. On top of that, the person he is, he just deserves the whole world."
Jorginho continued to gush about the Arsenal winger, saying:
“Before, he was always about going on the left-foot. Now he’s going on the right-foot [and making things happen]. For me now the thing he needs to do more is his hunger to get in the box. I want to even see headers from him."
"He can easily get six or seven more goals than he’s now getting, let’s see how far he can go. That’s the little thing he’s missing. Sometimes I can see the ball coming in from the other side and I tell him ‘get in there’ and he’s not there," he added.
This season, Bukayo Saka has scored seven goals and provided 11 assists in 18 games across competitions for the Gunners. If the north London club can win a trophy or more this season, it could open the door to the coveted award for Saka.
Where Arsenal players ranked for the 2024 Ballon d'Or
Manchester City midfield dynamo Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d'Or, with Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr. finishing second.
As far as Arsenal players are concerned, midfielder Declan Rice finished 26th out of the 30 players nominated for the award. He was closely followed by defender William Saliba, who finished in 24th place after leading the Gunners to concede just 29 goals last season.
Bukayo Saka finished in 21st place as he led England to the final of EURO 2024 with his impressive performances from the wing. The highest Ballon d'Or ranking for an Arsenal player went to Martin Odegaard, who finished 19th after leading them to second place in the Premier League in the 2023-24 season.