Former Arsenal captain Thierry Henry has expressed his admiration for young talent Bukayo Saka, revealing that he holds a particular fondness for the 23-year-old forward.
Bukayo Saka, who honed his skills in Arsenal’s football academy, has rapidly ascended the ranks and is now widely recognized as one of the top footballers in the country.
In his recent remarks, Henry admitted that he never anticipated Saka would reach the impressive heights that he has achieved in his career thus far.
“I have a soft spot for him. He’s my favorite player. He’s been at the club for a significant amount of time,” Henry stated. He praised Saka’s character, adding, “He’s so nice. I never thought he was going to reach the level we’re seeing today.”
Henry also took the opportunity to challenge Saka, suggesting that he focus on improving his free-kick performance, which could further elevate his game. “I challenged him the other day to work a bit on his free kicks,” Henry mentioned during an interview with BBC.
Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is confronting a growing list of injury concerns within his squad as the team prepares for an important Champions League clash against Monaco on Wednesday.
The latest training session saw key players such as Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber absent, and Gabriel Magalhaes remains sidelined as well.
Arteta has been without both Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori for the past two matches, and the situation worsened last weekend when Oleksandr Zinchenko was also added to the injury list following the game against Fulham.
The missing trio were notably absent from Tuesday’s training session in preparation for the Ligue 1 side’s visit. With Partey and Timber not present, it poses a significant challenge for Arteta, as both players have been pivotal in various positions.
In recent weeks, Partey has been forced to adapt and fill in at right-back due to the defensive shortages. Meanwhile, Timber, who has been impressive in multiple defensive roles this season, has taken up a position on the left side to cover for Calafiori.
The injury woes have deepened the challenges for Arteta, especially with the team already contending with the absence of Gabriel and Calafiori, both of whom had to be substituted during Arsenal’s emphatic 5-2 victory over West Ham United at the end of November.
