Bukayo Saka's Journey: Can He Rediscover His Best Form?

Bukayo Saka has spent five straight seasons in double figures. Twenty goals in 2023-24 underlined what he can be at his best. That kind of output, from a winger, usually launches you into the game’s highest bracket.

For a while, it looked like that was exactly where he was heading.

The Hale End graduate was being spoken about as one of the elite wide forwards in world football. Now, as he works his way back from a difficult spell, the landscape around him has shifted. Lamine Yamal is tearing it up as a teenager, Michael Olise has exploded onto the scene, and Vinicius Junior keeps redefining what a modern winger looks like at the very top.

Saka has had to watch too much of that from the sidelines.

Across the last two seasons, injuries have stripped him of rhythm and momentum, costing him 40 games for club and country and blunting his impact on the biggest stages. Even his World Cup campaign in the summer of 2026 was dragged down by fitness problems, a tournament he had hoped would cement his status rather than test his resilience.

Now he wants a clean run. No niggles, no setbacks, just football.

Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith believes that is all Saka really needs. Speaking to GOAL in association with BestBettingSites.co.uk, Smith was clear when asked if the winger can rediscover his spark: “I don't think there's any reason why he shouldn't return to his best form.

“Injuries just can rob you of rhythm and confidence. But if he gets a good period clear of injury now and he can have a good run of games, you'd expect him to come back up to the levels that he was at. No reason why he shouldn't.”

Arsenal will demand exactly that. They have built a side where goals are shared, but there is no new marquee No.9 leading the line. Viktor Gyokeres, who struck 21 times in all competitions last season, is heading into his second year at Emirates Stadium as the main centre-forward option.

Smith knows how crucial Saka’s numbers are in that context.

“It is so important that Saka can add more goals to the side,” he said. “Certainly, as well as playing well and creating goals, which he's very good at.”

Gyokeres, for his part, remains something of a live story. “Gyokeres, I wondered what was going to happen with him this summer,” Smith admitted. “Something still might happen, but it's his second season and he got into the 20s for goals in the first, all in. So that's no mean feat. Maybe he'll step up.

“I don't think he's going to become a different footballer, a more sophisticated footballer. He is what he is. But maybe his team-mates know a bit more about him now and can service him better. So yeah, keep our eye on that one. But we obviously need a functioning goal scoring centre-forward.”

The message is clear: Saka’s goals are a necessity, not a luxury.

Arsenal have explored ways to ease that burden. They have been heavily linked with World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, now at Atletico Madrid after leaving Manchester City, but any move for the Argentina international remains just that – talk, not a completed deal.

There has also been noise around Mikel Arteta turning to Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, while those surprising links to Real Madrid star Vinicius briefly hinted at a blockbuster move from the flanks.

If any of those attacking targets arrive before the transfer window closes on September 1, Saka may no longer have to carry quite so much of the scoring load on his own from wide areas.

For now, though, Arsenal’s ambitions still lean heavily on their No.7 rediscovering the ruthless edge that once had him sprinting towards the global elite. The question is not whether he has shown that level before.

It’s whether this season is the one where he stays there.