Bukayo Saka has boldly declared this is Arsenal’s year in the Premier League title race.
Whether that turns out to be the case or not remains to be seen, but either way this feels like it is Saka’s season.
The 23-year-old has made a sensational start to the campaign and been Arsenal’s best attacking player.
Saka has been without the injured Ben White and Martin Odegaard, who he combines so well with on the right flank, but their absences have not held him back.
His seven assists are more than any other player in the Premier League, while he also ranks first for chances and big chances created.
The fact Saka takes set-pieces undoubtedly has had a hand in that, but even still he is ranked third for chances created from open play.
Southampton were the latest side to be tormented by Saka last weekend.
Despite naming two left-backs in their team, they could not keep the winger quiet and he finished a Premier League game with two assists for the first time since September 2022.
Saka also scored Arsenal’s third goal and that means he has been involved in nine Premier League goals this season, with only Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland bettering that.
“What he’s doing at his age is unbelievable,” said Mikel Arteta. “He has the capacity to change games, to decide games, like many other players. If you want to be at the top, sometimes players have to create those moments and he's certainly done that today.”
Saka’s improvement is the product of hard work.
He is incredibly disciplined with his recovery, which enables him to shake off knocks after being targeted by the opposition, but Arteta has managed his minutes this season too.
Saka has started every game, but he has been subbed in seven of them.
In total, he has missed 98 minutes - the equivalent of another game - which could be valuable come the run-in.
It is no wonder Arteta is protecting Saka whenever he can, because the winger has become Arsenal’s talisman this season and he has worked to take his game to another level.
Conscious of the fact defenders know he likes to cut inside, Saka has made strides over the years so that he can beat a man by going outside them and crossing with his right foot.
He has always been excellent defensively, so much so he first broke into the Arsenal team at left-back, but that has been even more noticeable in the absence of Odegaard.
Odegaard leads Arsenal’s press and without him Saka has picked up the slack.
Against Southampton he regained possession more than any other player, while this season he is third in the Arsenal squad when it comes to tackles won in Premier League games.
“I mean he would be a dream [to play behind],” Arsenal legend Thierry Henry said last week while working as a pundit on CBS.
“If you have a guy like that in front of you, defending for everything and going on the counter, he makes the job easier for everybody.”
Henry has become a key figure for Saka, offering him support after he missed a penalty in the Euro 2020 Final.
Arsenal’s record goalscorer is now happy to give Saka advice whenever he needs it and over the next few years that could be invaluable.
Saka has a long way to go to match Henry - although he could have his eye on the Frenchman’s record of 20 Premier League assists in a season, which is shared with Kevin De Bruyne.
But like Henry, Saka is now becoming a leader and talisman for Arsenal. That comes with its own pressure and it is easy to see how Henry would be a perfect sounding board.
So far, Saka is taking it all in his stride and he has looked at ease having the captain’s armband in the absence of Odegaard.
Saka has always liked having responsibility. At academy level, coaches remember how he wanted to be the player getting the ball in the final third and charged with making the difference.
Saka was a studious teenager then, achieving excellent grades in his GCSEs, and that has continued now. One of the books he has read to help with his mentality is ‘Today Matters’ by John C. Maxwell, which provides “12 daily practices that can be learned and mastered by any person to achieve success”.
It felt inevitable Saka would one day become part of Arsenal’s leadership group.
In previous seasons, he was involved at different times - such as conversations around days off - and that influence has grown.
Saka’s popularity also made him an obvious candidate to wear the armband when needed.
He is loved at the training ground for his gestures of goodwill. Last season when he launched his own brand of Nando’s sauce, he brought some of it to the training ground and gave it out to any staff member who wanted some. Another year, he dressed up as Santa and handed out presents.
At Arsenal’s academy in Hale End, Saka is held up as the model pupil and one of the prized items on display is his shirt from a game against Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019.
It was the match in which Saka scored his first goal for Arsenal and the shirt naturally means a lot to him, but he gifted it to the academy as a way of thanking them for helping him his achieve his dream.
His star has continued to rise since then - and it still shows no sign of slowing down.
