Bukayo Saka: Chasing Elite Status in Arsenal's Attack

Bukayo Saka has spent five straight seasons in double figures. For most wide players, that would be enough to silence any doubts. For him, it only underlines a feeling that there is still another level to hit.

He touched that level in 2023-24, when he crashed through the 20-goal barrier and looked ready to plant his flag among the game’s true superstars. A Hale End graduate carrying Arsenal’s attack, scoring, creating, deciding big games – it felt like the natural next step in his rise.

Football, and Saka’s body, had other ideas.

Chasing the elite

While Saka has been fighting for rhythm, a new wave of wide forwards has exploded. Lamine Yamal dazzling at Barcelona and on the international stage. Michael Olise stepping into the spotlight. Vinicius Junior tormenting full-backs and defining seasons for Real Madrid. The bar for modern wingers is sky-high, and it keeps moving.

Saka knows he belongs in that conversation. His numbers say as much. His influence on this Arsenal side says even more. But the last two seasons have been interrupted, his progress clipped by untimely setbacks. He has missed 40 games for club and country, his momentum broken and his World Cup campaign in the summer of 2026 hampered by fitness issues that never really let him breathe.

That stop-start existence has taken its toll. Form needs rhythm, and rhythm needs games.

Smith’s backing

Alan Smith has seen enough top players to know when one is merely off the pace rather than falling away. The former Arsenal striker believes the story with Saka is simple: keep him fit and the rest will follow.

“I don't think there's any reason why he shouldn't return to his best form,” Smith told GOAL, speaking in association with BestBettingSites.co.uk.

“Injuries just can rob you of rhythm and confidence. But if he gets a good period clear of injury now and he can have a good run of games, you'd expect him to come back up to the levels that he was at. No reason why he shouldn't.”

That is not just a hopeful wish. It is a demand wrapped in expectation. Arsenal need that version of Saka back – the one who decides tight games, who drags defenders out of shape, who adds cold, hard numbers to the artistry.

Goals shared, pressure rising

This Arsenal side spreads the goals around. That has become a strength under Mikel Arteta, but it also means there is little margin for one of the main sources of end product to go quiet for long. No new centre-forward has arrived this summer, and the responsibility up front still leans heavily on Viktor Gyokeres as he heads into his second season at Emirates Stadium.

The Swedish striker hit 21 goals in all competitions last term. It was a solid return, one that hinted at something more without yet screaming “finished article.”

Smith is watching that situation closely.

“It is so important that Saka can add more goals to the side. Certainly, as well as playing well and creating goals, which he's very good at,” he said.

“Gyokeres, I wondered what was going to happen with him this summer. Something still might happen, but it's his second season and he got into the 20s for goals in the first, all in. So that's no mean feat. Maybe he'll step up.

“I don't think he's going to become a different footballer, a more sophisticated footballer. He is what he is. But maybe his team-mates know a bit more about him now and can service him better. So yeah, keep our eye on that one. But we obviously need a functioning goal scoring centre-forward.”

The message is clear: Gyokeres must keep scoring, but Saka has to shoulder a significant share of the load from the flank. Arsenal’s title ambitions depend on it.

Transfer noise and wing competition

Around all of this, the transfer market hums in the background. Arsenal have been heavily linked with World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, now at Atletico Madrid after leaving Manchester City. For now, talk is all it is. No agreement, no new No. 9 walking through the door.

Out wide, the rumour mill has spun even faster. There has been speculation over a move for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola. There were even shock links to Vinicius, the kind of name that usually only appears in fantasy scenarios for Premier League clubs not called Manchester City.

If any of those deals materialise before the window closes on September 1, Saka could find himself sharing the goal burden with another high-end wide forward. It would mean fiercer competition, but also the chance to form a devastating rotation on the flanks.

For now, though, the picture is simple. Arsenal’s attack still looks to its Hale End star to set the tone. If Saka can stay on the pitch and rediscover that ruthless 20-goal edge, the conversation will quickly shift from what he has lost to how far he can still take this team.