Back in July, Bukayo Saka endured a painful moment which had the potential to ruin the young Arsenal star’s career.
With the hopes of a nation on his shoulders, the Arsenal forward – aged just 19 at the time – saw his penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, which lost England the EURO 2020 final at the hands of Italy.
Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho also slipped up, and the trio received widespread criticism as a result of their missed penalties.
However, Arsenal have now channelled the positive energy from that sad moment into something special for Saka.
What’s the story?
Well, in the concourse of the north bank at the Emirates Stadium, there is what Arsenal call the ‘Saka wall’ – it can be found in the lower tier between blocks four and five.
It is a display which consists of 1,700 letters that were sent to the Hale End Academy graduate after the EURO 2020 final, and has been added to the Emirates Stadium to symbolise the connection between players and supporters.
Clearly, the Gunners love Saka, and care about his wellbeing after what was a very difficult moment for him to deal with.
Mikel Arteta cares a lot about the £33,000-a-week man as well, as the Spaniard admitted he was nervous to watch Saka take his last-minute penalty against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge just over a week ago.
It’s no wonder the Gunners have started talks with their London-born wonderkid over a new contract.
Bukayo Saka should stay at Arsenal forever
In our view, as long as Arsenal are a Premier League outfit, Saka should stay with the Gunners for the rest of his career.
Where else is he going to receive love like this?
Saka is treated like family by the likes of Ian Wright and other Arsenal legends, he’s been given the No.7 shirt, and is arguably the poster boy of the entire football club.
Effectively, the Emirates Stadium is his oyster, and there are no limits to what he can achieve in an environment such as this.
Hopefully, Saka finishes his career as a one-club man, and goes on to become one of the greatest Arsenal players of all-time.
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