Arsenal FC have announced that their winger Bukayo Saka has signed a new contract extension with the club. Saka has made 178 appearances since gaining promotion to the senior team three seasons ago.
The 21-year-old, who is an academic product of Arsenal, has enjoyed a stunning 2022/23 season, scoring 13 goals and providing 11 assists in their title-challenging campaign as the Gunners just fell short of a first Premier League crown since Arsenal ran the invincible in 2004 under the guidance of Mikel Arteta.
Mikel Arteta added: “It’s great for the club that Bukayo has extended his contract. Retaining our best young talents is key to our continued progress, and Bukayo represents such an important part of our squad now and for the future.
“As well as being a fantastic talent, Bukayo is a special person, he’s loved by us all, and he is a credit to himself and his family for the hard work and commitment they have all made to get to this level today. Together with our supporters, we’re so looking forward to enjoying Bukayo’s continued development with us in the years to come.”
Bukayo admits he feels the love from every Gooner he comes across, and he can’t wait to continue playing in front of them for many more years to come.
Speaking after signing his new deal, he said: “I’m just really happy. There’s been a lot of talking, and it’s been a while, but I’m here now. I think this is the right club, the right place to make the next step. It’s a beautiful club – look where we are.
“For me, it’s about achieving my personal ambitions; how much I push myself and demand from myself each game, week in, week out. Then I have all the right people around me in terms of family, and when I come to the training ground, my teammates, the coaching staff.
“I think I have everything I need to become the best player I can be, and that’s why I’m happy to stay here and be here for the future because I really believe that we can achieve big things.”
Reflecting on the past and looking to the future, he added: “I have seen a lot of change. I’ve seen this team and the club grow, and one thing that everyone around us can be excited about is that we are going in the right direction.
“Time is on our side. You can look at our team and a lot of the players are young. We’re hungry, and a lot of us haven’t won trophies at Arsenal, so we want to achieve big things. If you watch the way we all speak, we want to win, and we want to win here.
“It’s been too long since this club has had Champions League football. I’m really looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday nights in this stadium, the atmosphere is going to be special.”
“The fans have been so crazy, they’ve been so good this year,” he smiled. “Even when I see them out, we have so much in common in terms of how passionate we are for this team. Sometimes I feel like some of these fans can play the game, that’s how passionate they are.
“They would give everything; I can see it in their eyes when they’re speaking to me. It’s really nice to see that. I feel like we are all really connecting with the fans more, and you can feel it in the stadium as well.”
