Bukayo Saka is one of the most exciting young players of English football. The midfield maestro has a commanding presence for both Arsenal and the English national team. In this post, we will find out more about Bukayo Saka. Let’s get started.
Bukayo Saka: All You Need To Know
Who is Bukayo Saka?
Breaking into the Premier League when you’re young is never easy. Of course, integrating yourself with absolute ease into the first team and becoming one of its most important players in just one season is another level. At the beginning of the 2019/20 season, few of us knew the name of Bukayo Saka.
The Arsenal youth squad had only played 7 minutes in the Premier League then and had appeared in minor competitions. Only two summers later he was already a part of the English team for the European Championship and was labelled one of the key players of a squad that was one of the favourites to win it all.
How were Bukayo Saka’s initial seasons?
Anybody who has been following football recently can easily deduce that Saka’s senior football career’s start has been brilliant. The (then) teenager was perfectly integrated into one of the most powerful teams in the country. People expected his older teammates to be the ones to ‘pull the car’, but in Saka’s case, it has been rather the other way around.
The Englishman has broken into Arsenal’s main lineup very strongly, and the team’s performance has dropped a lot when he has not been available. Saka has been a fixture in Arteta’s XI all season. Perhaps his 5 goals and 4 assists do not seem very impressive, but seeing the year that the Gunners have had, the truth is that these figures cannot be neglected.
What is Bukayo Saka’s favourite position to play?
The main characteristic of Saka’s game is versatility. There are many players who do not change their position on the field in their entire careers. At most, they play in two different ones. At the moment Saka already knows what it’s like to play as a left winger, as a right winger, and as a central midfielder. From what he has shown, he performs best on the wings.
He overwhelms defenders with ease and generates plenty of scoring chances for the team. Besides, he has stated that he prefers to play in more advanced positions rather than as a defender. A sign of his self-confidence is how he always offers to give his team options.
Which footballer is Bukayo Saka’s game reminiscent of?
Maybe some think we exaggerate, but there are many similarities between Saka’s football and that of an Arsenal legend like Robert Pires. Both are electrifying footballers who do a lot of damage to defenders thanks to their ability to drive the ball at high speed.
What sets them apart from the usual extremes is their ability to trim inwards. They both look alike when they go towards their ‘weaker’ leg. By doing so, they make it very difficult for the opposition to defend since they never know if they can get away with a shot or with a pass that continues with the ‘gunner’ dangerous play.
What have Bukayo Saka’s teammates and coaches said about him?
Kieran Tierney: “I hope my friend Saka is in the England team for the European Championship. Of course, he has the quality to spare”
Bernd Leno: “He is a top player, with a very strong mentality, something not so usual in such a young boy. He is a very professional footballer who will be a beast in the coming years, and we are very happy to have him”
Coach Mikael Arteta: “He is very humble and respectful, but at the same time he has enough personality to ask for the ball and to make decisions that are surprising given how young he is. We need his leadership”
What is Bukayo Saka’s FIFA rating?
It comes as no surprise to us that Saka’s rating has inflated wildly over the past few years in FIFA 21. He’s been one of the fastest-growing players on the planet. The England international had a starting rating of 79. If he takes good care of it, he can reach a score of 88. Without a doubt, he is one of the stars of the future.
Rating of Saka in Football Manager
Any Football Manager lover is looking for a ‘wonder boy’ that they can buy as a bargain and turn into a superstar.? If your answer is yes, then Bukayo Saka might not be as obvious a choice as it might seem. He is very young with unlimited potential, but he isn’t available for cheap.
At first, the Arsenal winger is valued at around 30 million euros. If you can afford that, buy it. Without a doubt. His physical and mental characteristics are crazy if we take into account that he is barely 20. With proper training, we repeat, he can become a world conquering star.
Which boots does Bukayo Saka wear?
Previously, any player appeared to you with some New Balance pair of boots that, within what was available, were normal and current. Now there are real gems when it comes to football players’ boots. Saka usually wears a Furon V6 + and the logical thing is that they were the ones that fit in the European Championship.
What role did Bukayo Saka have in the European Championship?
This is a topic that was heavily discussed. England is a spectacular team in all positions, and that is why Bukayo Saka wasn’t featured as heavily on the team as he is on the Arsenal squad.
The advantage he has is that he can play in many different positions, and we still see him as a left back or a right winger. The winning goal he scored for the pros in the game against Austria at the Riverside Stadium has certainly had an influence.
Is Bukayo Saka a great player to have on FIFA 22?
The Premier League Team of the Season pack is accompanied by two free to play players and Bukayo Saka TOTS is one of them. The Right Winger slot isn’t known for its variety in FIFA 22, so many users may think of it as a great alternative to more expensive cards. Do you have what it takes to deliver good performance? Let’s talk about it. He has four skill stars, high/medium work rate, Body Type “Thin”, he is 178 cms tall and left-footed.
Bukayo Saka analysis
We don’t consider him a top attacker because he doesn’t reach five skills and/or bad legs. Players like Jadon Sancho FUT Birthday have more resources to be decisive near the goal. But he has four stars in both aspects, very complete statistics and an interesting Body Type. So he must offer good performance in competitive templates. And if you don’t want to spend a lot of coins on this position, it’s a very promising option.
In the ratings, we see only one flaw: his 70 in strength. Saka TOTS stands out in many aspects, although physical strength is not one of them. Even less so because of his “Slim” body type. He’s not going to be your typical player who’s very strong on the long runs, someone who’s resistant to tackling. But luckily, that stat could improve five points with Falcon as chemistry. In addition to the fact that being 178 cms tall, he will not be exaggeratedly weak either. So it is a negative point, but not inexcusable. And since he reaches 90 stamina, he won’t drop his level as the minutes go by.
The rest of the stats are up to the current FIFA 22 moment. Due to his body type and his high dribbling attributes, he will be a fine player in driving scenarios. It is true that in reaction (85) and composure (82) he is (relatively) weak, but he more than meets the key stats. He combines 93 agility, 94 dribbling, and 93 balance. So his movements will be skillful and we should not feel rough.
The pass is also a strong point. Although the long pass drops to 75, in the last meters he will take much more advantage of his 93 vision. And since the short pass goes to 92, he won’t have any problems in circulation either. Due to his 97 acceleration and 93 sprint, with Falcon or Engine, he will be a fast player. Naturally, he has 87 finishing and 86 shot power. While the long shot does not go above 81, it will be even less useful because it does not have the “Quality Shot” trait.
If we apply Motor and we don’t improve those numbers, it will hit the occasional clear occasion but it won’t be too precise. Whereas, if we raise the attributes with Falcon, it will have 92 completion, 96 shot power, and 91 long shot. They aren’t amazing stats either, but they should be enough to score most close opportunities. And anyway, because of his 98 positioning rating, he’s going to make very good breaks.
Although with one chemistry issue or another, Saka TOTS will not be a specialist in creating those shooting situations. He will not be limited thanks to his good handling of the ball, and the four stars in skills and bad leg. But since he doesn’t get to five in either aspect, he doesn’t have the extra resources that we do see on other cards. That is why he will be more useful as a winger than inside. The idea is that to face the central defenders, we use even more creative footballers.
Attached to the band he should offer a better role, we could take advantage of his dribbling and precision passing to advance the ball along the side. And since he reaches 90 stamina, in the vast majority of playstyles it will keep his spark throughout the match. You must be very physically demanding for him to be too tired in the final minutes.
A great free to play for his position, league and nationality
For all that we have discussed, Saka TOTS will not be a top-tier winger. There are expensive cards in the Premier League that have more resources thanks to their stars. But the likes of Mahrez RTTF or Sancho FUT Birthday are too expensive right now, and many users won’t want to pay their current price. So, to replace them with a guarantee, you can try your hand at this interesting free to play version.
It is a highly recommended item to use someone decent without spending anything. So you can use your budget to reinforce other areas of the field. Apart from the fact that, due to his team and nationality, it is very easy to include him in hybrids. It has usable links for different budgets and styles of play.
The free cards had lost value in FIFA 22. Some of the most recent ones were not bad, but they were not very special either because there are competitive and low-cost players on the market. However, Saka TOTS is definitely much more useful. Because the top right-wingers in the Premier League come at a price that many people are unable or unwilling to pay. So it serves as a decent replacement for the more competitive options in the league.
Bukayo Saka: Best chemistry styles
Falcon
Acceleration is perfect, sprint goes up to 98 and strength gets five points to get to 75. Apart from the completion going to 92 (+5), shot power to 96 (+10) and the long shot to 91 (+10). The definition is somewhat low, but it will look better thanks to the high power of the shot. Although he won’t be a lethal shooter, he should hit a lot of clear shots.
Motor
Very useful alternative if you plan to use it as a pure winger and he is not going to tackle too much. In that case, you can apply this chemistry to increase his quality in assisting and dribbling. Short pass, long pass and vision receive a +5. The same happens with agility and dribbling, while the balance goes up six points to reach 99.
Hunter
If you shoot too much with Bukayo Saka and you notice that with Falcon he misses more than you would like, try him with Hunter because the rating goes up ten points instead of five. But you won’t notice a huge difference either, as Bukayo Saka’s shot power drops from ten to five. Although he should be somewhat more precise in clear opportunities.