Bukayo Saka exclusive: Arsenal and England forward ready to take the next step for club and country
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News reporter Gail Davis, Bukayo Saka discusses taking the next step with Arsenal and England to win the biggest trophies in the game; watch Arsenal vs Brighton in the Carabao Cup live on Sky Sports on Wednesday; kick off at 7.45pm.
The children of Edward Betham School had been presenting their projects on role models to some of the assembled teachers at the school—within seconds of arriving at the primary school in Greenford, you quickly understand there was only ever going to be one.
After all, the pupils see their idol every day on the mural in the playground—the smile is unmistakable—but no one was expecting Bukayo Saka to walk into their lesson on a Wednesday afternoon.
Over the next hour Saka listens, laughs, reminisces (naming every teacher he ever had), and answers some pretty tough questions from the kids that no journalist would dare to ask. All of this less than 24 hours after the Arsenal star had helped England secure their place at next year’s World Cup and having gotten home at 6am that morning.
Within minutes, observing from the back of the classroom, you quickly learn that as proud as the school is of their Arsenal and England superstar, for Saka the feeling is mutual—the place and the values it represents helped shape him.
“I think it’s always a beautiful feeling, coming in and seeing the kids react like that,” Saka told Sky Sports.
“You kind of anticipate it, but when you’re actually in the moment, it feels sweeter. I’ve come back quite a bit to do a few projects here, but I think today has definitely been my favorite. The kids’ presentations—hearing all the things they had to say was really beautiful.
“The school shaped me, and you just need to go around it and see what’s all around it to understand the values that they teach here. You can probably see them in me as well.”
It may not come as a surprise that his fondest memories of his school days involve football—his coach had to recall the promise he made to her, aged six, that if he made it big he was going to buy her a Lamborghini—but he clearly remembers others.
“I’d probably say making history is one of the best moments, because my team and my brother’s team were the first teams to win a trophy here, and they retired my shirt. I had a No. 10, so no one’s ever wearing it again.”
We talk about how awe-inspiring it is for these kids that we are sitting on a bench in his school playground when less than 24 hours earlier he was helping guide his country to the World Cup.
“It sounds crazy, but that is my life, and everything is a blessing,” he reflects.
“I don’t take anything for granted, and I’m always grateful to God for being in the position that I’m in today.
“I feel like it’s kind of overlooked in this country due to the talent that we have. It’s kind of expected for us to make it, so it’s not really made a big deal of, but there are massive players, big players in the history of the game, that have never played in a World Cup.
“It’s amazing that we’re going back there, and hopefully I get the chance to play in my second World Cup, and I can go further than I did in the last one.”
We talk about the talent at Thomas Tuchel’s disposal and how he feels England is “building something good.”
It has taken some time for the players to understand the workings of the former Chelsea man, but he has impressed the more Saka has worked with him.
He said, “I think he’s a top coach with tactical understanding and with the people as well. He’s very demanding, and he knows how to get the best out of the players.
“Every player in this country has the opportunity to be at the World Cup, and he’s made it an environment where he’s made it open to anyone. How much do you want it? How well can you perform? So it’s a competitive environment, but I really believe he’s going to get the best out of the players, and, at the end of the day, we’re here for the country, trying to make the country win. That’s what’s in everyone’s heads right now.”
Tuchel has also made it clear in his selections that the “team” goes above everything else, and Saka takes him back to the values taught to him at school.
“I feel like it’s the best way. I feel like if you work as a team, especially with the talent and quality that we’ve got, we can definitely go far in this World Cup.”
Before that, Saka could have some of the most exciting and rewarding few months of his club career with Arsenal now at the top of the Premier League after an excellent start to the season.
“I feel like, when you’re an Arsenal player, there’s just always constant talk about where you’re finishing and how you’re performing,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like it’s even overanalyzed, but this year I feel we’re a very strong group, and we’ve got a lot of quality.
“We’ve suffered a lot of injuries already, but the players that have come in have shown that we can all keep the level at the highest, and that’s what it’s going to take for us to go all the way.
“I think that’s where we’ve slipped off in a few seasons, but this season, we’ve got that, and it’s making me really believe we can do it.
“I’ve been in the title race the last three years now and finished second in all of them. Just from the understanding of that and what I’ve learned, it’s that now it’s not so important. It’s in April; that’s when you need to be there, and that’s where you need to try and be top.
“Now it’s about standing around it, building your momentum, and then going on a run of performances.”
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