Until 2031
©IMAGO
It’s 16th December 2020. Arsenal have just drawn 1-1 at home to Southampton. They are six games without a league win and 15th in the Premier League table. After the game, a 19-year-old Bukayo Saka comes out and tweets “You deserve more Arsenal fans”. In reality, the teenager was already Arsenal’s best performer and dragging a poor team through a difficult period. It was the older players letting the club down. Six years on and Saka is Mikel Arteta’s superstar, and Arsenal’s ‘Starboy’ is now set to sign a new long-term contract with the club until 2031.
The 24-year-old has been with the Gunners’ Academy since he was just eight years old. It is understood the new contract will see Saka become one of the club’s highest paid players and the agreement is the latest example of Arsenal tying down their key players to long-term contracts. William Saliba, Gabriel, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly all signed new long-term deals in the summer. Saka has become an integral player for the Gunners since he made his debut in 2018. He now has the opportunity to become a true Arsenal legend and could break a number of club records in the next six years.
What Arsenal Premier League records could Bukayo Saka break?
Last season Saka produced 12 goals and 13 assists in 37 appearances, despite being sidelined for three months with a hamstring injury that required surgery in December 2024. He has been a consistent figure for Arsenal since he was a teenager. He has now accumulated as many as 217 Premier League appearances for the club and he is still only 24 years of age. That already ranks Saka 16th on the all-time list. He is 41 games behind Thierry Henry (258) in 10th and 115 behind Ray Parlour (333) in first. If he stays fit he could beat the record in the next four seasons.
The 2023-24 season saw him step up as captain for the first time and finish as the club’s top scorer with 20 goals. Although his goalscoring numbers and output have dipped a little of late, he has been one of the most reliable in front of goal for Arsenal in recent years when fit. In total, Saka now has 57 Premier League goals, placing him 10th on the club’s all-time top scorers list in the competition. He is three behind Alexis Sánchez in ninth and five behind Robert Pirès in eighth. Whilst he is likely to overtake both of those players this season, it might take some time to eclipse Henry’s 175 goals, but should Saka still be at the club in 2031 when his latest contract expires he might not be far off.
Whilst his goalscoring has seen him climb the charts for Arsenal, his assists have seen Saka surge up the history books. The Englishman has now registered 56 Premier League assists for the Gunners, already placing him in fifth position on the all-time list. He is now just one assist behind German playmaker Mesut Özil (57) and 20 behind Henry (76) and Cesc Fàbregas (76), as well as 40 adrift of current leader Dennis Bergkamp (96). Saka could feasibly hold this record himself in the next three years if he continues to post similar numbers to the ones he has produced in the last three years.
However, what Saka will be judged on most and what will be paramount to his status as a club legend is the team itself winning trophies. Arsenal are currently in a great position, six points clear at the top of the Premier League table, top of the Champions League table, in the semi-final of the EFL Cup and into the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Gunners have now gone without a major trophy for as long as five years and Saka, as one of the key players, must now help get them over the line. His new contract puts his future to bed – he now has to prove he really is one of the world’s best.