Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is well on his way to becoming a club legend, and the winger is continuing to break all kinds of club records.
The 22-year-old broke through from the Academy side in 2019, and has since become the club’s talisman as Mikel Arteta injected new life into a failing Arsenal side to make them title challengers.
Saka originally made his Arsenal debut under Unai Emery, but his emergence into the team reached a new level under interim manager Freddie Ljungberg, before he then exploded under Arteta.
Arsenal legend and Invincible Ljungberg took temporary charge of the first team, and also coached Saka at youth level, and remarkably, his former protege has now matched his Premier League goal record.
Bukayo Saka draws level with Freddie Ljungberg for Arsenal Premier League goals
Saka recently helped Arsenal demolish Tottenham Hotspur in a crucial North London derby, creating Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal through a corner, before scoring from an outstanding counterattack.
This goal was Saka’s 57th for the club, and his 46th in the Premier League.
Saka has now drawn level with Ljungberg for Premier League goals. The Invincible scored 46 times in 216 appearances in the competition for Arsenal, whilst also providing 31 assists.
The Englishman has matched his total with over 50 games to spare, as Saka’s 46 goals and 35 Premier League assists have come in 168 appearances, and what is even more impressive, is that he started his career under Ljungberg as a left-back.
READ MORE: Freddie Ljungberg’s biggest Invincibles regret at Arsenal
Is Bukayo Saka better than Freddie Ljungberg was for Arsenal?
Ljungberg is an Arsenal legend, and has the trophy haul to back his goals, which Saka does not have yet.
However, in terms of individual performances, Saka has carried an Arsenal team with much less quality than the sides Ljungberg played in, and has also thrived as one of the best attackers in the Premier League.
Former Invincible Jeremie Aliadere claimed last year that he would pick Saka over the Sweden star if given the choice.
“It’s a tough one, but the way he’s playing I probably would pick Saka over Pires and Ljungberg. I thought Pires was absolutely fantastic, a good friend of mine, but what Saka has been doing this season has been incredible for his age,” he stated in May 2023.
Ljungberg was there from the beginning of Saka’s career, and revealed that during his days in the youth sides, he was well aware of his talents.
“I think he was 15 when I started coaching him. It’s been a pleasure. He came and asked me questions all the time, if there was something he knows that he can’t really do, he wouldn’t be scared or shy away from it, whereas some players do,” Ljungberg stated of Saka in 2021.
“He’d come and practice that little bit extra, ‘Can you show me some clips of what I’m doing wrong?’ and stuff like that. He’s very, very clever.
“He trains really well. I had this chat with him when he was really young and told him that’s what he needed to do to become a top player.”
“Since that day, he’s worked so hard, you almost have to tell him to calm down a little bit if we have a game. Pleasure to be the coach of a player like that.”
Given his young age, Saka is well on his way to becoming an Arsenal legend, and he has now surpassed creative genius Santi Cazorla for assists, and matched the Invincibles right-winger for goals, in what has been a truly mesmerising rise to stardom.