Bukayo Saka's Journey: From Injury Struggles to Goal Scoring Greatness

Bukayo Saka has already proved he can live in double figures. Five seasons in a row, he has hit at least 10 goals. In 2023-24, he went to another level and crashed through the 20-goal barrier. That return briefly nudged him towards the conversation about the game’s elite wide forwards.

Football moves quickly. So do the standards.

While Saka has battled to stay fit, Lamine Yamal has exploded at Barcelona, Michael Olise has become one of the Premier League’s most dangerous creators, and Vinicius Junior has turned Champions League nights into his personal stage. The bar for modern wingers is sky-high, and Arsenal’s No. 7 knows it.

Injuries, rhythm and a stalled rise

The last two seasons have not been kind to Saka’s body. Forty games missed for club and country have stripped away rhythm, sharpness and momentum. Even his World Cup campaign in the summer of 2026 was compromised by fitness problems, a tournament that should have showcased his maturity instead becoming a stop-start struggle.

Yet inside Arsenal there is no sense of a player in decline, only one temporarily held back.

Former Gunners striker Alan Smith, speaking to GOAL on behalf of BestBettingSites.co.uk, sees no reason for alarm. Asked whether Saka can rediscover the form that once threatened to make him one of the very best in his position, Smith was emphatic: “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.”

That is the bet Arsenal are placing on their Hale End graduate: keep him on the pitch, and the rest will follow.

Goals, responsibility and Gyokeres

Arsenal will need every ounce of Saka’s end product. Mikel Arteta has chosen evolution over revolution in the forward line, with no new out-and-out striker arriving as Viktor Gyokeres prepares for his second season at Emirates Stadium.

The Swedish forward delivered 21 goals in all competitions last term, a solid return for a debut campaign. Smith believes that number can climb, but not because Gyokeres will suddenly transform his game.

“Gyokeres, I wondered what was going to happen with him this summer. 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: Gyokeres has to finish, but Saka has to feed him and still score heavily himself. Arsenal spread the goals around under Arteta; they almost have to, given the absence of a guaranteed 30-goal No. 9. That makes Saka’s contribution from the right even more critical.

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

Transfer noise on the flanks

Behind all of this runs a familiar summer soundtrack: transfer rumours.

Arsenal have been strongly linked with World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, now at Atletico Madrid after leaving Manchester City. On paper, Alvarez ticks plenty of boxes: intelligent movement, relentless work-rate, a proven eye for goal. On the ground, though, nothing is close. No agreement, no deal.

Attention has also drifted towards the wings. Reports have suggested Arteta admires Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola, a tall, direct wide forward who can both stretch the pitch and attack the box. There were even shock whispers about Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior, a name that underlines the ambition of the club’s recruitment thinking, even if a move of that scale remains firmly in fantasy territory for now.

What is not fantasy is the idea that Saka could soon have another high-level winger sharing the burden from the flanks. With the transfer window open until September 1, Arsenal still have time to add a different profile of attacker, someone who can ease the pressure on their No. 7 and tilt defensive attention elsewhere.

For now, though, the picture is simple. Arsenal are going into the new campaign expecting Saka fit, firing and back to the numbers he hit in 2023-24. If he gets that uninterrupted run of games Alan Smith talks about, the question is not whether he can keep up with the new generation of wing stars.

It is whether they can keep up with him.