Former Arsenal midfielder Anders Limpar has identified the key to unlock the best from England winger Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal begin their Premier League title defence against promoted Coventry City next Friday and manager Mikel Arteta will have his fingers and toes crossed that Saka is fit and ready to make a big contribution sooner rather than later.
Trent Alexander-Arnold to Arsenal? ‘It would be absolutely great for Bukayo Saka’
Limpar, who was a key figure in the impressive Swedish national team of the early nineties, wants Arsenal’s recruitment team to look ahead with maximising Saka’s peak years. The key, he says, is an England player who wasn’t at the World Cup at all.
“I don’t think Trent Alexander-Arnold is going to leave Real Madrid,” Limpar told Sveacasino.
“He’s tough. He will be ready to fight to get his place back. He is not soft. He is a strong character.
“Of course, Arsenal need good players and strong characters and Alexander-Arnold is a good player with a strong character, especially when it comes to playing forward and going on the attack.”
Building a team and indeed a transfer strategy around Saka’s potential would be a major vote of confidence in the 24-year-old, who has more than justified that degree of faith in his seven seasons as a regular in the first team.
“It would be great for Arsenal but it would be absolutely great for Bukayo Saka if Alexander-Arnold arrived because there is a similarity between Saka and Mohamed Salah, and Trent would know exactly what to do with Saka,” added Limpar, who admitted that his suggestion is unlikely to come to pass.
“I don’t think Arsenal need to worry about this now because Trent Alexander-Arnold is a grafter of a player and he will stay at Real Madrid for another three or four years or however long it takes because he hasn’t shown his best for them yet.
“He has had injuries, he has been in and out, and he isn’t the only player who struggled there last season. He will want to fight his way back into the team under Jose Mourinho and prove everyone wrong.”
Limpar played more than 150 top-flight games in his seven years in England, winning the First Division with the Gunners in 1991 and the FA Cup with Everton four years later.
He went on to brief spells with AIK and Djurgarden in Sweden, and with Colorado Rapids in the early years of Major League Soccer, before returning to his first club, Brommapojkarna, to see out his playing career.