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Arteta open to‘evolving’exceptional Saka

Mikel Arteta has said he does not want to label Bukayo Saka as ‘world-class’ but admits the Arsenal winger is exceptional.

Saka scored twice as Arsenal beat AS Monaco 3-0 in the Champions League in midweek, continuing his superb start to the campaign.

The 23-year-old now has eight goals and 11 assists across all competitions, with only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah managing more across all competitions among Premier League players.

Ahead of this weekend’s clash with Everton, Arteta was asked whether Saka had now reached world-class levels.

“I don’t know, I don’t like putting labels on players. He’s exceptional at what he does and he’s doing it very consistently,” Arteta said at his pre-match press conference.

“Now we need to go to the next step with things collectively as well to get that level. That’s the aim.”

Arteta was also asked whether Saka could move into a more central role as he develops, a shift seen in players including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He said it is an evolution he would not rule out as his career progresses.

“I think that will depend a lot on the qualities and the players who are around him. For somebody to be an inside instead of an outside, somebody has to be outside and that player, that full-back, that attacking midfielder and nine has to allow the space to do that.

“But I’m certainly very open to keep evolving players. Sometimes it’s the role, sometimes it’s the position on the pitch and sometimes there are other things we can do so that he can spend more time in this position because when the ball is far on the opposite side, we can choose where we want him, but we’re certainly thinking about these kind of things.”