Bukayo Saka joined Arsenal at seven and grew into the club's talisman
Bukayo Saka walked into Arsenal's Hale End academy aged seven and has never played first-team football anywhere else. He first broke through covering at left-back, scored the club's 2,000th Premier League goal, and became the first player since Thierry Henry to win Arsenal's player of the season twice running.
Saka was born on 5 September 2001 in Ealing, west London, the younger child of Yoruba Nigerian parents, Adenike and Yomi, who had moved to London for work. He credits his father heavily for his progress. At Greenford High School he earned four A-star and three A grades at GCSE. He played grassroots football for Greenford Celtic, and after time with Watford's youth teams joined Arsenal at seven; an academy coach later remembered him as a superb decision-maker who knew when to dribble and when to pass.
He made his first-team debut against Vorskla Poltava in the Europa League on 29 November 2018 and his Premier League bow on 1 January 2019, becoming the first player born in 2001 to appear in the competition. Injuries to Sead Kolašinac and Kieran Tierney pushed him into the side at left-back in 2019-20, and he helped Arsenal win the FA Cup that season. Mikel Arteta praised him as embodying the club's values when he signed a long contract in July 2020.
His influence kept growing, now mostly on the right wing. On 19 March 2022 he scored Arsenal's 2,000th Premier League goal, away at Aston Villa, and he finished that season as top scorer. Named player of the season after both 2020-21 and 2021-22, he was the first to retain the award since Henry. As Arsenal chased a first league title since 2003-04, he reached 100 Premier League appearances in August 2022. The club has since won the Premier League with him in the side.
For England he debuted in October 2020 and played at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024, both lost in the final, and at the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, the latter ending with a third-place finish.
Source: Bukayo Saka
