The word generational is a term that gets thrown around too regularly in the footballing world. Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is generational. Perhaps. Martin Odegaard is generational. You can make a case, certainly.
What we’re trying to say here is that every once and a while, a magical player comes along. He’s a player capable of dazzling stern defences, he’s a player who racks up some of the best numbers we’ve seen in the game.
Well, Saka certainly sounds like that player. Throughout 2024/25 to date, the Englishman has arguably taken his performances to a whole new level, if that was even possible.
Arsenal’s famed no.7 has played in 12 league matches this term and has some rather impressive numbers to show for it. In fact, they’re more than impressive.
Saka already has 15 goal involvements which count for ten assists and five goals. Is Thierry Henry’s Premier League record of 20 assists in a single campaign in danger? It looks like it.
Regardless of whether he sets records or not, the England international will certainly go down as one of the best to wear the red and white of Arsenal.
Saka's performance in numbers against West Ham
On Tuesday evening, the Arsenal winger admitted that seeing Odegaard return to the starting XI is something that’s given him a huge smile.
It’s easy to see why. Only Gabriel Martinelli (12), has a higher joint-goal participation than Odegaard when they are on the pitch together. The club captain has always played a vital hand in Saka’s success, however.
The Norwegian has assisted eight of the forward’s 65 Arsenal goals to date which equates to 12.3% of his club career. Not bad indeed.
Since the skipper returned, their link-up has already been tremendous. It was Odegaard who delivered the assist for Saka’s goal against Nottingham Forest a week ago and it was Odegaard’s lovely dinked ball that turned out to be the pre-assist for Saka to tee up Leandro Trossard at West Ham on Saturday evening.
Speaking of West Ham, the England star was at his almighty best at the London Stadium this weekend as Mikel Arteta’s men won 5-2 and scored a handful of goals for the second match running. Arsenal are well and truly back.
The Hale End graduate seemed to be at the forefront of everything good the away side produced in East London. It was Saka’s corner (of course it was) that led to Gabriel’s opener. It was Saka’s assist that led to Trossard’s second. It was a foul on Saka that led to Odegaard’s penalty and then finally, at long last, he found the net himself with Arsenal’s second spot kick of the encounter.
Minutes played
74
Touches
51
Goals
1
Assists
2
Accurate passes
22/32 (69%)
Key passes
4
Accurate crosses
4/6
Big chances created
2
Shots
3
Successful dribbles
2/3
Ground duels won
4/10
Aerial duels won
1/3
He is a marvel, he really is, and once all is said and done, will likely go down as one of the greatest players we’ve seen at this football club.
It’s likely he’ll be joined by another partner in crime, Gabriel Magalhaes.
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Why Gabriel is already one of Arsenal's greatest-ever players
Who knew, eh? Who knew that a £27m signing from Lille back in September 2020 was going to become such a colossus for the Gunners?
That’s what he’s become, dear old Gabriel. There are few defenders on the planet, perhaps few players as a whole who bless the goalscoring knack of the Brazilian. It’s almost become comical how good he is from corners. Alas, there is nothing comedic about his displays in an Arsenal shirt over the last few years.
In 2024/25, the centre-back has already scored four times in 19 games, two of which have come in his last couple of outings. Gabriel rose highest in Lisbon a few days ago, powering home a header from Declan Rice’s corner.
Then, against the Irons this weekend, it was a little less powerful although still incredibly good. Saka swung his corner to the near post and there Gabriel was to give his side a priceless lead.
That goal turned out to be Arsenal’s 20th from a corner in the league since the beginning of last season. That’s more than any other team. Furthermore, Gabriel’s five goals from such situations are more than any other player during the same time frame.
In fact, since he signed in 2020, no centre-back has scored more in Europe’s top five leagues than the 26-year-old’s haul of 17.
That sort of record is well and truly cementing himself as one of the great defenders in the club’s history. Just look at the table below.
1. Koscielny
22
11.1 games
2. Gabriel
17
8.3 games
3. Vermaelen
13
8.4 games
4. Gallas
12
8.4 games
=4 Adams
12
21.2 games
6. Toure
9
25 games
Gabriel is already the club’s second-highest-scoring centre-back and he’s got the best ratio of any of his predecessors.
He does, of course, need to win something in the next couple of years to match the feats of a certain Tony Adams – arguably the best defender in Arsenal history – but the boy from Sao Paolo is certainly doing a lot of things right.
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