How Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has evolved as a goalscorer

It has been almost five years since Bukayo Saka entered Arsenal’s first-team picture under then-manager Unai Emery, but the graduate of the club’s Hale End academy continues to take his game to new levels. That was recognised this week as he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the 2022-23 season — a feat that would not have been possible without the significant improvements he has made in front of goal.

His bravery initially stood out as a teenager among men — he made his Premier League debut at the age of 17. Then his intelligence and reliability across multiple positions gave a glimpse into how special a talent he is. Goals are what make everyone pay attention, however, and the evolution of Saka into a regular scoring threat has been exciting to watch.

Before his 22nd birthday next week, he is reaching a level where, whatever type of finish he attempts, it looks natural. His long-range curler into the top corner against Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend of this season was not the first time he had executed that type of goal — but they have not always been a staple of Saka’s game.

Here, The Athletic assesses how Saka has become a reliable goalscorer for Arsenal and England.

Arsenal’s ‘Starboy’ and his rise to the top of the game

Saka is not 22 until September 5 but already has 51 career first-team goals for club (40) and country (11). He has hit double figures in the last two Premier League seasons (scoring 11 in 2021-22, then 14) and has two from three appearances in this one, but the types of goals he scores require context.

The potential for the 28-cap England forward to score the wide range of goals he is now putting away was always there.

His first goal in senior football was curled into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area in a Europa League group game away to Eintracht Frankfurt in September 2019, shortly after he turned 18, and four months later he was rifling a near-post finish into the top corner at Bournemouth in the second match of Arsenal’s FA Cup-winning campaign. On top of that, he was no stranger to scoring with shots into the top corners off either foot during his academy days.

His positional play, where Arsenal were in their journey as a team at the time, his level of experience and the coaching he was getting all factor into Saka’s range of goals. That can be seen from a location standpoint below:

Five of Saka’s Premier League goals have been penalties (he has scored five from six). Of the rest, there is a cluster from the right half-space, as expected for a right-winger, and he has also scored a fair amount of his Premier League goals from central areas.

Many of these have been courtesy of Arsenal attacks coming from the left and Saka darting in off his wing to apply a first-time finish.

It has been an important development for the team under Arteta, as their long-time first-choice forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang became less effective in 2021 while Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard all became more regular scorers from that zone on the pitch.

Saka applied this type of finish on multiple occasions during this period.

His first Premier League goal, away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 2020 on the post-lockdown run-in, was a volley from the middle of the box. He was also involved in a spectacular passing move, with Smith Rowe and Lacazette, in the snow at West Bromwich Albion the following January, which ended with him tapping the ball into an empty net from six yards. Away to Benfica in the Europa League the next month, he arrived in the six-yard box to convert a low Cedric Soares cross from the left.

This was also the type of finish he applied when he scored the opening goal against Manchester City in January last year after Kieran Tierney burst up the left flank — a day that did wonders for Arsenal’s self-belief, despite ending in a 2-1 defeat via a stoppage-time Rodri winner.

For a more visual example, take the below sequence against Newcastle United in January 2021.

Saka is already pushing to the centre of the box as Smith Rowe receives and drives with the ball from the left wing:

Once Smith Rowe beats his man, Saka is in position for the cutback and sweeps the ball in first time:

He was still a teenager at this point, and not everything Saka was touching turned to gold. Arsenal were under intense pressure as they looked to climb the league table after a terrible start to that season (losing their opening three games by a combined score of nine goals to nil) while also trying to win the Europa League.

Some big chances fell to him that spring, but he was not consistently converting with the coolness that has developed in the two and a half years since.

That development came naturally, as a few things happened when Arsenal’s attack became more balanced and cohesive towards Christmas 2021. Around this time, Saka started consistently outperforming his expected goals (xG) numbers, suggesting he was finishing chances at an above-average rate.

Arsenal were creating more goalscoring opportunities as a team, so Saka did not have to move centrally so often to get his best chances. Instead, with Smith Rowe, Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli excelling to his left, he could hang out on the right more, leading to finishes more typical of a winger.

He scored two very similar goals away at Norwich City that December. For the first, he receives a pass from Odegaard in decent space…

… earns himself an extra yard of space, then places his finish through a defender’s legs into the far corner:

In the second half, he had to do the work himself to get away from a marker before drilling the ball into the far corner:

As Saka became more confident in front of goal, one aspect of his finishing went under the radar — power.

That second goal against Norwich was placed perfectly, but the shot’s ferocity gave goalkeeper Angus Gunn no chance. This should not be as surprising as it seems, because many of Saka’s goals at academy level were powerful strikes, but it is the technique he is mastering — alongside the force — that catches people out.

His volleyed goal away to Aston Villa in the March of last season is a prime example. The speed of the shot was not that clear in the stadium. The clean nature of the strike made it appear to coast past Emiliano Martinez rather than crash in off the crossbar.

That blend of power and technique has been key to Saka mastering a few specific finishes over the past year.

The most recent examples come from his curled finishes from outside the box into the far corner and start before he applies the finishing touch.

A player’s ability to receive the ball on the back foot or half-turn is essential in separating them at the top level. Saka started to do this more when he was on the touchline during the 2021-22 season to suck left-backs towards the ball before flicking it into the space vacated behind them.

He receives possession like this in the seconds before his recent goal against Forest, dropping his shoulder towards the ball to make his marker jump and create more space for himself:

He can push the ball into more space with his back foot (the one furthest from the ball at the time of the pass). All a floundering Orel Mangala can do to try to stop him is reach out with his hands:

After creating time and space for himself, Saka can then focus on a powerful and perfectly placed effort into the top corner:

These were the same technical beats Saka hit when he bent in an effort from a similar area for England against Ukraine in a European Championship qualifier in March this year.

Here is the shoulder-drop towards the ball, which sells the defender and lets Saka receive on the back foot (his right this time):

Here are the almost identical hands on his back from a desperate opponent:

And here is the curled finish into the far corner after finding enough time and space:

The range of finishes Saka is adding to his arsenal is what is truly impressive, and that also comes down to technique and coaching.

Last October, the F2 Freestylers’ Ultimate Soccer Skills channel on YouTube uploaded a one-to-one goalscoring coaching session video with Arteta. When discussing near-post finishes, the former midfielder says: “If you don’t have the angle to beat the ’keeper, (you have) two options. You put the ball high or put the ball across goal. If you put the ball here (high), look at his hands (they are low). He needs to react. If you put it across and he parries it, you have a rebound.”

Arsenal played Leeds United away on the day the video was posted. This was the high near-post finish Saka applied to score the game’s only goal:

He demonstrated his superb mix of technique and power again here in March, at home to Everton. He receives a pass from Oleksandr Zinchenko on the back foot, allowing his next touch to take him towards goal…

… before shooting another right-footed arrow into the top corner while the goalkeeper’s hands are down:

He showed this type of goal off to England fans in June too, when he scored the opener of his hat-trick against North Macedonia. Again, the first touch to set himself up nicely was just as important as the shot itself.

Saka had another type of finish he preferred at the start of 2023, however. After lashing in Arsenal’s second in the 3-2 home win over Manchester United in January, he said: “It’s my best goal, for sure. I don’t think any other goal can argue with this one, and for what it meant as well.” Similar to the strikes above, that one was about him using his body to create space and then powering the ball into a corner.

Just eight months later, his statement can go under review with some serious candidates for better goals and that is what epitomises Saka’s rise in the game. He has seemed special since his days in the academy but his continuous development is taking him to new levels.

Some observers may need to see goals flying into the top corner to serve as proof, but those who have watched him for the past five years have seen it in various aspects of his play. That, alongside his consistency, is why he became Arsenal’s outright record-holder for consecutive Premier League appearances (83) when he lined up against Fulham at the weekend.

The fact he converted his penalty after a lengthy, thunder-interrupted wait to take it — on top of fresh memories of the mistake he made leading to the visitors’ early opener — was the latest example of how often he has changed the course of matches for club and country.

It is a skill that has been invaluable, and will continue to be for years to come.

(Top photos: Getty Images)