Bukayo Saka has established himself as not only a key figure for Arsenal but also for England.
At the age of 22, the winger has made 226 senior appearances for his club and racked up 36 caps for the Three Lions.
Therefore, Saka has played with and against a lot of top-level players throughout his career.
Now though, ahead of England’s match against Slovakia in the knockout stage of the 2024 European Championship, the winger has shared his thoughts on one Manchester City star he knows what it’s like to have as a teammate and as an opponent.
Bukayo Saka shares what it’s like to play against and with Kyle Walker
When asked in a recent interview shared on the talkSPORT YouTube channel which player in the England camp he has found it tough to play against at club level previously but is glad to have as a teammate on the international stage, Saka had this to say in response.
He said: “I think Kyle Walker is definitely up there.
“If you ask most wingers, coming up against him is a very tough challenge and now most of the time, he is playing behind me, so that’s nice to have that confidence that behind you is someone so strong like that, so feel free to attack.”
Walker is a tough opponent for any attacker
For England, the duo have appeared in 25 games together, including the three group stage games that the Three Lions have played in Germany over the past couple of weeks.
At club level, Saka has faced off against the City captain, who made his move to the Etihad Stadium back in 2017 in a deal worth £50m, on eight occasions and has only been on the winning side once, which was the previous Charity Shield final that Arsenal won on penalties.
Saka isn’t the only top attacking player in the Premier League to recently describe how tough it is to play against Walker, as Mohammed Kudus said earlier this month that the right-back is a “nightmare” to get the better of.
Taking all of that on board, it’s easy to see why the Arsenal star has shared how pleased he is to have a player like Walker behind him and doesn’t have to play against him for England.