At a Glance:
Gilberto Silva’s hot take about Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal legend prefers his former teammate.
Saka has better numbers than the former Arsenal star.
Bukayo Saka can finally call himself a Premier League winner and at a club of Arsenal’s stature, a player cannot be considered a legend.
Several Arsenal fans consider Saka a club legend despite him having a challenging season due to the Englishman’s heroics for years and the fact that he has won the title.
However, Gilberto Silva’s generation of Gunners players won trophies, particularly the league title during the club’s unforgettable ‘Invincibles’ campaign in the 2003/2004 season.
In the retired Brazilian’s eyes, one of them remains better than Saka, who has been consistently brilliant for a number of seasons now.
Gilberto Silva claims Freddie Ljungberg is better than Arsenal star Bukayo Saka
Gilberto Silva has claimed that Freddie Ljungberg is a better player than Saka as he was asked to compare Arsenal’s current Premier League-winning team to the Invincibles roster.
Gilberto Silva picks his combined Arsenal Invincibles x Arsenal current XI 🤔👀
🏡 @PlayStation House pic.twitter.com/StxldX9wsF
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) June 8, 2026
The World Cup winner told TNT Sports: “Another one, very hard.
“I’ll give you Freddie.”
However, Gilberto Silva picked every one of his teammates over the current Arsenal side.
Comparison Gilberto Silva’s pick
Jens Lehmann or David Raya Lehmann
Lauren or Jurrien Timber Lauren
Sol Campbell or William Saliba Campbell
Kolo Toure or Gabriel Magalhaes Toure
Ashley Cole or Riccardo Calafiori Cole
Himself or Martin Zubimendi Himself
Patrick Vieira or Declan Rice Vieira
Freddie Ljungberg or Bukayo Saka Ljungberg
Robert Pires or Leandro Trossard Pires
Dennis Bergkamp or Martin Odegaard Bergkamp
Thierry Henry or Viktor Gyokeres Henry
Arsenal fans will be curious to know how Saka and Ljungberg compare as far as their respective spells in N5 is concerned.
Bukayo Saka and Freddie Ljungberg stats compared at Arsenal
In terms of silverware, the Swede, who the club sold for £3 million (Transfermarkt) in 2007 to West Ham United has the edge on the 24-year-old.
The 49-year-old won three league titles, three FA Cups and one FA Community Shield during Arsene Wenger’s reign.
However, as far as their respective numbers are concerned, Saka has already outdone Freddie Ljungberg.
Statistics for Arsenal Freddie Ljungberg Bukayo Saka
Appearances 328 312
Goals 72 81
Assists 40 81
Saka’s statistics correct as of 08/06/2026
The latter has scored and assisted more goals than the veteran despite having made 16 fewer appearances.
It seems like a matter of time until Saka is widely considered Arsenal’s greatest right-winger of all time as he still has plenty of years to hit even higher heights.
Srinivas Sadhanand
Srinivas Sadhanand is a writer for Read Arsenal and Read Man City, with over eight years of experience as a sports journalist. He has worked for established companies such as GRV Media, The Economic Times, Urban Pitch and Sportskeeda among several others. From interview athletes to writing detailed tactical pieces and covering the impact streetwear and music in football, he has many strings to his bow as a journalist. Being a lifelong Manchester City fan, he specialises in writing about them and the Premier League in particular. Away from the desk, he loves watching European football, cricket, films, listening to music and exploring new foods.
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