Seldom does greatness present itself to us straight away. It shouldnt, should it?
You wouldnt have called Lionel Messi a great when he first got a piggyback off Ronaldinho, for example. Greatness has to be earned. It takes time to cook: from Kendrick to Kubrick, few get it perfect from the get-go, as knocks and knacks will fell and form, respectively.
There are so few geniuses who have emerged as the finished product and rode on an almost-linear trajectory even with the finest education and watching to see how theyll develop: thats the fun of talent-spotting. The endless possibilities, the sky being the limit: wonderkids bring our natural footballing instincts to dream big against all established wisdom and experience, and end up disappointed.
With this in mind, and with Arsenal seemingly stacked with generational golden boys in recent seasons, its odd now to look back at how Bukayo Saka burst onto the scene. There was little fanfare. None of the fireworks of a Dowman or a Nwaneri, no skyscraper-sized hype, elaborate YouTube video titles or claims of this THIS being Englands Messi.
So when Saka first stepped out in a senior Arsenal shirt against Vorskla Poltava a Scrabble answer as much as a Pointless one it was just another debut. He was good. But with respect, so were Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Youngsters who came through Arsenals academy during Unai Emerys era were strange cases, unleashed with all the authenticity in the cause of a step-parent dropping slang. Was Unai really locked in with these guys, believing in their ability to challenge the elite? Or was it simply that he really didnt like Mesut Ozil?
Watching Sakas early days, youd have been brave to bet on him becoming Arsenals greatest player of the last 20 years by the age of 24. But hey, thats where we are.
Bukayo Saka is the greatest player Arsenal have had since moving to the Emirates Stadium. Seriously.
For a while, the competition to become the Emirates GOAT felt a little like a Goal of the Month award where most of the entrants were penalties or own goals. Thierry Henry led Arsenal from Highbury up the road to their brave new world, his best days firmly behind him and with just 12 goals in his final season (before another two on loan in a swift reprise), he can consider himself Arsenals greatest-ever, but not of this specific era. Neither can Gilberto Silva, really, or Freddie Ljungberg. Instead, the real candidates begin with the titans who stepped out from the shadows of the Invincibles.
Cesc Fabregas was the Emirates first true idol and re-shaped Arsene Wengers philosophical direction to a Subbuteo-style pass-and-move style but he abandoned ship before lifting a trophy as captain, winning the league at Chelsea instead. Undoubtedly one of the best midfielders in the world while in North London, his time in red-and-white is tinged with what could have been likewise, Robin van Persie sullied his legacy with his exit, and though he also reached a level that arguably no Arsenal striker has since, he never posted more than 11 league goals a season before his final two campaigns, which were essentially warm-ups for winning Manchester United a title.
Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were Galactico-style buys, and each delivered some of the best performances the Emirates has ever seen along with trophies but again, more was expected, either rightly or wrongly. None of them feels like a quintessential Arsenal player, perhaps due to how divisive they were, while true Arsenal players like, Andrey Arshavin or Tomas Rosicky, burned bright but sporadically. Aaron Ramsey scored two cup-winning goals but never got the love of Jack Wilshere; Santi Cazorla was a fan favourite, but was defined by his absence as much as his impact. Olivier Giroud won everything in football but most of it after leaving Arsenal, who spent most of his Gunners career trying to upgrade him.
Being the best isnt the same as being the greatest, though. Greatness encapsulates heart and mind; otherwise, wed label any old showpony as a superstar. Messi isnt the GOAT because of what he does, but what he means; that Arctic Monkeys debut album is astonishing in spite of its imperfections, because of what it evokes, and will likely forever be preferred to the more polished AM.
So while Fabregas, Van Persie or Ozil may well take the technical title as Arsenals best player since 2006, they cant compete with what Bukayo Saka represents in N5. Football needs to move us. Culture matters, otherwise frankly, what the f**k is the point of it?
And anyway, he is world-class, so there and he may already go down as Arsenals greatest-ever right-winger. There has arguably never been a player as adored by Gooners, and yes, that includes Henry. And why that is, isnt blindingly obvious from the outside.
100 goals and assists in your first 200 games helps, but it never guarantees love. The combination of grace, guile, maturity and composure, meanwhile, is a bewitching one to watch: Saka is everything that George Graham and Arsene Wenger distilled as what an Arsenal player should be. But then so was Jakub Kiwior by that logic. Mikel Arteta himself had those traits as a player, and he wasnt adored even half as much as some of the players hes signed.
The love goes even deeper than that. Saka stepped into senior football when Arsenal were on their knees. He was quality, as stated, but wasnt the most precociously gifted footballer that fans had ever seen and yet he still assumed the Atlas role of carrying the club on his shoulders. He has been at the very core of every defining moment that Arsenal have enjoyed and endured in the past six years and has been a beacon through tough times and triumph.
It may be that Arsenal fans love Saka simply because he saved him, because hes their best player or because of his local connection: it could be his humility, or how hes never been afraid to show his vulnerability. Its probably a combination while the efforts that Arteta has made to engage the fanbase have no doubt helped to foster connections with every player in that dressing room in a way that Arteta himself never experienced when he captained his own Gunners team.
But Saka is Arsenals greatest player since moving to the Emirates Stadium because hes the embodiment of the clubs values. Hes not just great because hes good: he wasnt the first man to captain this club in this ground, it matters not that he doesnt have the vision of a Fabregas or a rocket shot of a Van Persie.
Because hes something more. Bukayo Saka is the kind of person and player that the Emirates stadium was built to hold aloft because he represents. He simply is Arsenal. As much as Henry, Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp or anyone else.
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