Bukayo Saka: Why ‘mesmeric’ teenager could be future Arsenal captain
When Bukayo Saka takes to the field on Thursday – fitness permitting – and attempts to play his part in steering Arsenal past Slavia Prague and into the Europa League semi-finals, he will not be short of support.
In the corridors at Greenford High School in Ealing, Saka’s legacy looms large. In pride of place on the wall in the reception area, there is a signed Arsenal shirt and a “thank you” letter written by the 19-year-old, whose status as one of English football’s brightest prospects ensures he still dominates conversations for teachers and students alike.
“Everyone was buzzing when he made the England squad,” Mark Harvey, Saka’s former PE teacher and assistant head at Greenford, tells BBC Sport.
“The older students study his career, and whenever he does something, like score or create a goal, it is always being sent around the staff WhatsApp group,” adds Dipesh Patel, Saka’s school football coach. “The younger children can’t quite believe he was a student here.”
Arsenal came first for Saka, before secondary school and exams, which he typically took in his stride despite an immensely disrupted schedule, achieving four A*s and three As at GCSE before leaving in the summer of 2018. He stood out from an early age, helping Greenford to regional and county success.
“I had been at the school for a number of years, but straight away I saw something in him which I’d never seen before,” Patel continues. “The way he moved, the way he saw the game and always seemed to do the right thing. He was just an incredible team player.
“In Year 7 we lost the final of the Ealing Borough Trophy 4-3, and he missed a hatful of chances; it was very unlike him. I remember him coming off the pitch and he felt like it was all his fault. He said to me, ‘I’m never playing football again!’. But he raised the standard of everyone around him.
“We got through to the final pretty easily, and he was mesmeric in most of the games. Sometimes I’d take him off at half-time, to be a bit nicer to the other team. When he got to Year 8, we pretty much won it all, Ealing Borough Trophy and the Middlesex Cup, which was the county. It was never about him; there was just a lovely spirit about the team.”
The winger, who has been with the Gunners since the age of seven, made his first-team debut in a Europa League tie in November 2018 and appeared in the Premier League for the first time in January.
By August last year, he was an FA Cup winner and was about to be rewarded with a new contract at Emirates Stadium. Two months later, having raced through the age groups from under-16 level, he made his full international debut in a victory over Wales.
Despite establishing himself as a regular in north London and forcing his way into Gareth Southgate’s thinking for the rescheduled European Championship this summer, Saka has never forgotten his roots.
“He had a really good relationship with his head of years and a really good relationship with his headmaster, who was a Chelsea fan, so you can imagine the banter going on between them from early on,” Harvey continues.
“He also had a close circle of friends, about five to eight boys. All of them were really nice, and they weren’t just sporty, but academic as well.”
When Saka’s former headmaster retired two years ago, he made sure he showed his respect at his leaving party.
“He came down with his dad and stayed for a couple of hours, talking to members of staff,” said Harvey. “Everyone knows him; from our receptionist to our security guard. He had a relationship with them.”
Agencies