Arsenal star Bukayo Saka has expressed his admiration for Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish while speaking on England duty.
The Gunners academy graduate – who earns £10,000-a-week at the Emirates (Spotrac) – told beIN Sports (via ITV): ‘He is a top player.
‘Before we played against Villa at the weekend we did analyse him and we picked him out as one of their main threats and he showed it in the game. He was amazing from start to finish so it is going to be good to play with him and not against him this week.’
Grealish is winning plenty of admirers for his performances so far this season.
The Villa academy graduate has scored five goals and set up a further five in just eight appearances across all competitions so far this season.
Even Kevin De Bruyne hasn’t achieved that many goal involvements, having scored once and assisted seven in ten games across all competitions.
Saka mentions that Grealish was the subject of Arsenal’s pre-match analysis, which emphasises just how concerned opposition teams are about him this season.
It is obvious that Dean Smith’s No.10 is a fine player, but to hear it come from one of his fellow professionals, and also a young, fearless player in Saka, should speak volumes.
Hopefully, the Arsenal man’s comments will open Gareth Southgate’s eyes to Grealish’s brilliance a bit more.
The Three Lions boss has began to hand the Villa captain some caps now, but he isn’t yet one of the first names on his England teamsheet.
Surely, it’s only a matter of time until that changes.
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