Eight minutes, three touches and a corner of net. That is all Bukayo Saka needed on his return to Arsenal's line-up on Sunday to breach the Premier League's best defence and simultaneously restore a sense of energy and calm to the Emirates Stadium.
He had missed just two club matches with an injury picked up on international duty, but that had felt an age for a player whose durability is renowned, and whose workload and work rate in his young career have at times bordered on the obscene. Arsenal were dreadful in both games, beaten away at Bournemouth and then squeezing past a limited Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to an own-goal in the Champions League.
A 2-2 draw with Liverpool was neither a disaster nor a game-changer for Arsenal's title ambitions, but his performance on comeback was a reminder that Saka's absence or availability will be. Starboy remains the moniker, but Saka has long since developed into Arsenal's attacking talisman. He has begun to wear the captain's armband with increasing frequency, including from the start against Liverpool, and the boyish face is (slowly) beginning to look a little less so.
"What I like about B is that when he needs to show his teeth and have that edge, he has got it," manager Mikel Arteta said recently. "He does that in a really special way."
Beyond Arsenal, Saka is established as a capital icon, an inspiration to this city's children and cast upon billboards in others around the world. Today, he has been named one of the Standard's 100 people shaping London, and deservedly stands shoulder to shoulder with the other 99. He is no longer just the jewel in the Arsenal crown but a figurehead in himself, with driving influence on this team even greater than Martin Odegaard, William Saliba or Declan Rice.
This story is from the October 31, 2024 edition of The London Standard.
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This story is from the October 31, 2024 edition of The London Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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