Relentless Bukayo Saka Shines Again – But Arsenal Still Falter

Paris Saint-Germain knocked Arsenal out of the UEFA Champions League by winning the second leg of their semifinal 2-1 in Paris on Wednesday, May 7.

PSG had earlier won the first leg, too, and progressed to the final with a 3-1 aggregate win.

The victory for Luis Enrique’s men means that Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will have to finish yet another season without a silverware.

Arteta has won a solitary FA Cup with the Gunners in his six years as their manager, which is not a very encouraging piece of statistics.

Bukayo Saka: Arsenal’s Consistent Force

Bukayo Saka scored the only goal for Arsenal on Wednesday. The 23-year-old right-winger has 12 goals and 13 assists in 34 matches, which means that he is probably the best-performing player for the Gunners this season.

In fact, Saka’s injury in the middle of the season was one of the main reasons why his team fell behind in the race for the Premier League table.

Arsenal failed to replace him properly, with a very young Ethan Nwaneri coming up with some decent performance while playing on the right flank and Leandro Trossard failing to shine in the same position.

His return from injury has enabled the Gunners to perform better almost immediately.

Saka is one of the more experienced players for the Gunners, despite being quite young. He has played in 260 matches for the North Londoners and scored 70 goals in them.

He has been the mainstay of Arsenal’s attack along with Martin Odegaard for quite some time now.

Aside from that, the young Englishman has been one of the most consistent performers for the national team as well.

Will Saka Move to Another Club in the Future?

Saka is about to complete seven seasons at Arsenal.

His contract expires in 2027 and it will be interesting to see if he moves to another club in the pursuit of a title. Saka will only be 25 at the time his contract with Arsenal expires.

Someone like Trent Alexander-Arnold has severed his ties with Liverpool despite winning a few titles for the Reds and Saka could take a cue from him.

Hence, Saka cannot be blamed if he harbours the ambition of winning trophies as a player. He can still do that while playing for Arsenal, but the chances appear somewhat slim at the moment, especially given their recent record.

Arteta’s men have almost made it a habit to finish second in the Premier League and do not seem strong enough to win a European trophy either.

Unless things change drastically, they might not be able to end their trophy drought next season either.

Will Saka continue to be in the team when his current contract expires?