Bukayo Saka says he was quick to message Gabriel Jesus when he heard the Brazilian would be ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a knee injury.
While the news is theoretically good for England’s World Cup hopes, it certainly isn’t advantageous for Arsenal.
Jesus returned to London yesterday and is understood to have visited a specialist today.
Reports claim he could be sidelined for three months which would see him miss a significant chunk of the season even though domestic action doesn’t restart until Boxing Day.
“He is a very, very, very, very important player for us and it’s not good to hear the news,” said Saka.
“Obviously I messaged him and I think he is going to go and see the doctor, and see what he needs to do for the next steps. But yeah, definitely it’s not good news when I heard that.”
Jesus has seven assists and five goals in 20 appearances since signing from Manchester City and has been a lynchpin of the attack despite the goals not flowing since October.
Facing the media in Qatar ahead of England’s World Cup quarter-final with France, Saka was also asked about comparisons with Kylian Mbappe and whether he is on course to be the tournament’s breakout star. The Arsenal winger has scored the same number of goals, 3, as his French counterpart to further consolidate his burgeoning credentials as a rising star.
“Thank you for the compliment but no,” replied Saka. “There’s only one Kylian Mbappe. At the same time, there’s only one me. I want to be myself and help the team in the best way I can.
“There are so many young players in the tournament, I can name so many. Even in our team, there’s a young player who’s doing unbelievably well in Jude Bellingham.
“I’m just happy we are all here and doing well. The priority is to win the tournament, not be player or young player of the tournament.”
He’s such a lovely young man.
Brilliant at making statements with his feet, and with his voice.
Such a humble guy… Love him
Makes me laugh when United fans go “Yeah, Ronaldo is arrogant and petulant, but you need that to be as good as he is”.
No you don’t. It just means you end up burning all your bridges and the only place that want you is Saudi Arabia.
Well, if you have a habit of burning bridges it DOES make sense to move to the desert.
🔥🔥🔥
The humblest young talent in the world right now is our saka and a prime example to how any young athlete should act, keep your head down, play for the team, and don’t let your ego get in the way. You know everything he does is not for his own gains but for the teams success.
Brilliant at making statements with his feet and with his voice.
Lovely guy
Star boy nuff said
Hasn’t Mbappe got 5 goals?
A new abacus is a must for Andrew Allan this Christmas.
I hope we never see another mid season World Cup. With so many teams, the level is low and there are meaningless games with half empty stadiums.
There’s 6 more teams in next one
There will be an astonishing 48 teams at the next World Cup. That’s 12 more. Smh
You are right. Maybe I’ll tune in for the knockout stages.
I don’t think I’d be so negative if this tournament wasn’t iterating the real football. It all seems planned to make more money and inconvenience the fans.
How is the quality of games down to when it is played?
A summer world Cup, after a long, excruciating season, still has its fair share of dull games.
I am not for another Nov/Dec World Cup, but I don’t think the quality is down to that. Rather, I think it has more to do with the number of teams. The more teams there are, the more relatively weak teams will make it to the Mundial.
2026 could be worse.
I think that another factor is the local crowd. Play the world cup in a country that is footie mad, and the atmosphere can lift the game. That is, unless the proles are priced out, which is inevitable these days.
FIFA racket.
Stadiums have been packed.
This guy is absolute gold dust, get him a pen for God’s sake.
That’s a lot of very’s. Can you imagine Aaron Ramsey trying to convey the same thing? “He’s an ever so, ever so, ever so, ever so important player for us.”
Aaron Ramsey, the most overrated Arsenal player of the 20s.
Any player can become overrated in retrospect, if they have as many lumps kicked out of them as Ramsey did. I’m amazed he can still walk. But before all that, he was an excellent player.
Behave yourself
He never played for Arsenal in the 20’s. He left in 2019.
Ha! Rambo was a boss. But his days are behind him now. We had his best years and I’m massively grateful to him for that.
Will never forget Rambo for ending our trophy drought in the 2014 FA Cup Final
On the Arsecast a question from a fan touched on which Arsenal player would reach double figures in the league. James immediately mentioned Jesus. I thought that was bold from James. And that was pre-injury. I don’t expect him to reach double figures in any of his seasons with Arsenal
It always takes a player a little while to find his feet at a big club, particularly after spending time at a high performing smaller club….”insert winking emoji…”
He’s halfway there, and we’re not halfway through the season, so (injury aside) he’s well on track. Don’t really understand the negativity, or the logic, to be honest.
All of our front four – Jesus, Saka, Martinelli, and Odegaard – will all reach double figures.