The Gunners winger has made 78 consecutive Premier League appearances for Mikel Arteta's team, and he has looked tired in recent weeks
Arsenal spent a lot of time last summer looking to bring in some cover for Bukayo Saka on the right side of their attack. Raphinha was the player they wanted, and they did make a bid for the Leeds United winger. But when that bid was rejected and Raphinha’s determination to seal a dream move to Barcelona became abundantly clear, Arsenal took a step back.
At that point you thought the Gunners would move on to other targets. Moussa Diaby, the Bayer Leverkusen winger, is a player they are known to have admired for some time, and there was a feeling the north London club could make a move for the 23-year-old. But they never did.
And when the transfer window closed at the end of the summer the only right winger who had arrived at Arsenal was Marquinhos, the 19-year-old Brazilian who had come in from Sao Paulo.
The capture of Marquinhos was seen as one for the future. He was talented, but he wasn’t a player who was expected to immediately challenge for the first-team. In fact, the expectation was that he would head out on loan almost immediately. So that left Mikel Arteta once again relying almost purely on Saka on the right hand side of his front-line.
GettyA player in need of protection
Saka’s durability is one of his biggest strengths. No matter how many games he plays and how many kicks he takes, he always seems to be available. And for Arsenal, that has been hugely important during the past two seasons, because they haven’t really had anyone around who could fill in for him, should he be absent for a sustained period of time.
Reiss Nelson is one possibility, but Arteta has always seemed to prefer using him on the left on the odd occasion he has been handed any game time during the past couple of campaigns.
The fact Saka hasn’t picked up any sort of serious injury seems more down to good fortune rather than anything else, given the treatment he receives on a weekly basis from defenders. His team-mates and Arteta have long called for the winger to be given more protection from referees, but so far those appeals have fallen on deaf ears.
AdvertisementGetty Images78 consecutive league appearances
Saka has featured in every single Premier League game for Arsenal this season. The only game he didn’t start, against Leeds, he was introduced as a second-half substitute despite the fact he had been ill and hadn’t been able to train the day before.
In fact, Saka has made an appearance in Arsenal’s last 78 Premier League fixtures. The last game he missed was against Newcastle in May 2021, when he was an unused substitute. That’s currently the longest run of consecutive league appearances in the league (David de Gea is second with 75).
Since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, Saka has featured 74 times – again, more than any other player in the league. Of those 74 appearances, 71 have been starts. For a 21-year-old, those are remarkable numbers, especially when you factor in the games he has played for England during the same period of time.
They are also numbers, however, which show how important it is that Arsenal finally bring in some much-needed cover for Saka this summer.
Getty ImagesOne goal in eight games
Saka may have the capability to consistently be available, but his performances in recent weeks suggest the incredible workload he has had to take on has started to catch up with him. Since scoring twice against Crystal Palace on March 19, the winger has started eight times for Arsenal and has struggled to find the same level of performance that he had produced during the earlier part of the campaign.
In those eight games, Saka has managed just one goal and one assist. Previously, he had been averaging 0.82 direct goal involvements per 90 minutes, but since the win against Palace that has dropped sharply, falling to just 0.29.
Saka is now taking fewer shots per 90 minutes (2.3 compared to 2.6), creating fewer chances (1.6 compared to 2.3) and having fewer touches (53.3 compared to 59.6). He also missed a crucial penalty during that run, firing wide in the 2-2 draw at West Ham.
GettyArteta's need to rotate
When you consider the amount of football Saka has been asked to play, both for his club and his country over the past two years, it is no surprise that physically he may be beginning to struggle a bit as the season comes to a close.
And that doesn’t just go for him when you are looking at the Arsenal team. Up to this point of the campaign, Saka, Ben White, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes have all featured in every league game this season for the Gunners. Saka has clocked up 3,041 Premier League minutes this season. For comparison, Bernardo Silva at Manchester City has 2,119, Jack Grealish has 2,063, Riyad Mahrez has 1,669 and Phil Foden has 1,612.
Pep Guardiola’s embarrassment of riches in the attacking areas means he can pick and choose who he wants for games, safe in the knowledge that the drop off in performance will not be vast. His players now look as sharp as they have all season as a result.
Arteta doesn’t really have that luxury. The core group of his team have started almost every game when available, and that has to change if Arsenal are going to take another step forward next season and compete not just for the Premier League, but also in the Champions League.