Thierry Henry says that Bukayo Saka is his ‘favourite player’, and has waxed lyrical over the way the 23 year old has made the transition from the Hale End Academy to become one of the best players in the world.
The club’s all-time leading goalscorer spent some time working at Arsenal as a coach, and while he was aware of Saka during that period, the spotlight was shining on other youngsters.
Speaking to fellow legend Alex Scott for the BBC, Henry spoke about how Saka’s development, and how he feels there’s even more to come in the years ahead.
“At the time I was in the academy, people were talking a lot about Chris Willock, the brother of Joe; Reiss Nelson; Donyell Malen,” he said.
“And Bukayo was just… Yeah, he’s good. But he wasn’t the talk of the academy, you know. And that’s why I have mad respect for Bukayo.
“I have a soft spot for him. He’s my favourite player. He’s been there for a long time. He’s so nice. I never thought he was going to reach the level that we’re seeing.
“He’s a starter for England. He’s a starter for Arsenal. I remember when he started at the beginning, he was playing wing back on the left, on the right, wherever there was a position he was playing in, he was doing well.
“And the evolution of his game is just outstanding because he used to be lively, to become too difficult to defend against, to assists, to goals, to now goals and assists.”
As for where there might be a bit more, Henry joked, “I challenged him the other day, you know, you need to take free kicks now because, you know, you got to work a bit on your free kicks!”
While he might have been slightly tongue in cheek, it’s not a bad shout. We can see from Saka’s corners he is capable of delivering good balls with real consistency, and we haven’t scored too many from free kicks around the box in recent times – just two in three seasons (we think).
So, with a manager who is always looking for marginal gains, perhaps this might be something to try. And you wouldn’t put it past Bukayo Saka to step up.
Thierry Henry speaks to Alex Scott