Bukayo Saka has been a key player for Arsenal since breaking into the first team and Thierry Henry has spoken about the advice he has given the winger.
Bukayo Saka has been in great form for Arsenal, with Thierry Henry highlighting changes in the Gunners’ player (Image: )
Thierry Henry has revealed he told Bukayo Saka some hard truths over the phone ahead of the winger’s remarkable transformation at Arsenal. The Gunners academy product has been a staple of the squad since Mikel Arteta’s breakthrough in 2018.
Despite his young age, Saka is approaching 300 appearances for Arsenal and has scored 78 goals in all competitions. He also won 48 caps for England and added a further 14 goals for his country.
The Arsenal icon highlighted the discussions he had with Saka early in his career, believing that numbers don’t always tell the whole story as the winger makes a huge contribution to the manager on the pitch.
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Henry told Betway: “I don’t want to say too much, but some of them have my phone number and they know they can call me whenever they want to. What we talk about is what they want to say, but they know they can call me and talk about life and football and things like that.
“All I can say is thank you for what Bukayo said. I think I was just calling a friend, because I think of Bukayo as a younger brother in a way.
“I think whenever you talk to a player, it’s your duty. You don’t owe anyone anything, but you’re giving. I say honesty is the key. So every time I talk to a player, I’m brutally honest.”
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Henry was full of praise for Saka, insisting there is more to the 24-year-old than just the numbers. The two-time Premier League winner said: “The important thing is consistency and Bukayo has been playing consistently for England and Arsenal for the past two or three years.Sometimes statistics alone don’t tell you how a player is playing.”
“If you just looked at Andres Iniesta’s stats, you’d think he was an okay player. Now when you look at the game, it’s a different ball game.
“The statistics don’t show that Bukayo Saka is going up and down, defending the opposition winger, helping the right-back, going on the counter, trying to take a shot. The length of time people kick him, he gets up and starts moving again, and he wants the ball in every situation.
Thierry Henry opens up about ‘brutal’ conversation with Bukayo Saka (Image: )
“You have to watch the game to understand it. Unfortunately, a lot of people today only look at the statistics.
“This is where Saka gives us a lot of options as a coach. We saw him at the Euros when he started playing as a wing-back. Give us another winger of that size right now who is open to playing as a wing-back, or who defends like he does. You have to watch the games to see what the players are doing, but what Bukayo brings to the team is second to none.”
Asked what he thought was the biggest change in Saka since joining the team, Henry said: “His eyes have changed.
“I think if someone makes a face like that, it’s over. I think it’s a little bit different in Bukayo’s case. Sometimes people say, ‘Bukayo is a good person.'” Personally, I don’t like that. You don’t have to be nice on the field. Winners are not kind. they want to win. ”
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