For the last handful of years, Bukayo Saka has been one of the best players in the Premier League, and while he has yet to truly emerge as a Ballon d’Or contender or even a Premier League Player of the Season winner, he has always been seen as a guy on the precipice of reaching the heights of a Vinicius Junior or a Mohamed Salah in world football.
But injuries have started to play a role in Saka’s development, and although the young England international is still a mere 24 years old, there has been a bit of stagnation from the Arsenal right winger in 2025 going into 2026, even as Arsenal are growing stronger as a team and running away with the Premier League.
This week in the Champions League, strikers Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres led the charge as Arsenal picked up another huge win for their resume, dominating the Italian giants 3-1 in the UCL.
Saka, conspicuously, was one of the few attacking players who did not stand out, and while he earned a reputation for his unselfishness and creativity as a chance provider on the wings in recent seasons, Arsenal fans began pointing out the opposite against Inter.
It seemed like although Bukayo Saka was making some progressive passes, the actual creation in the final third was severely lacking, largely by choice. Saka repeatedly passed up on opportunities to feed the other forwards.
Saka finished the game with an assist and three key passes, but when you look at the context of his overall statistics this season, his creative numbers have been down. He is not even averaging two key passes per game in the Premier League with a mere three assists in 20 total appearances, which is a pretty terrible return for a player who is primarily a creative winger and not a scorer; he also has just four goals in league play.
What Arsenal need from Saka is more ruthlessness with his passing in the final third. When the opportunities are there to get Gyokeres or another striker a clear shot on goal, Saka needs to be the one to pull the trigger on the pass instead of waiting it out, taking that extra dribble for himself, or shooting into the crowd.
The production on a key pass basis is not terrible for Saka this season, but that is also because Arsenal dominate possession so much and give Saka the ball in the final third so often.
In terms of how often he has the ball, the goals and assists from Saka are lacking, and Arsenal fans are rightfully calling that out more. To win the Champions League, they need more of that something special from their best player.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.