Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori react to Bukayo Saka’s Arsenal promise
Bukayo Saka took to social media with a message for Arsenal supporters following the 2-1 win against Southampton.
The 23-year-old winger was incredibly close to bringing silverware back to North London for the first time since the 2019/20 season, reaching the Champions League semi-finals before bowing out to PSG.
However, he started on the bench against the Saints on Sunday, 25 May, with Martin Odegaard scoring a late winner after goals from Kieran Tierney and Ross Stewart at St Mary’s Stadium.
Saka finished the season with 12 goals and 13 assists in 37 appearances, missing some of the season through injury, but with no trophy lift, Arsenal fans are piling more pressure on Mikel Arteta.
Bukayo Saka backs Arsenal to come back stronger
Taking to Instagram (26 May), Saka wrote: “We all know the mission. We’re working towards achieving things this club hasn’t seen in a while. And our time will come…”
Clearly in agreement with the star winger, Declan Rice and Arsenal’s exit-linked defender Riccardo Calafiori liked the post following the trip to St Mary’s Stadium.
Mikel Arteta to restock the Arsenal squad ahead of the 2025/26 campaign
Football Insider verdict
The Gunners have been desperately in need of signing a star striker, and Football Insider understands that Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres would be “happy” to join Arsenal this summer.
Mikel Merino has been a decent stand-in, especially converting from his natural midfield role, but the Spaniard cannot be a long-term fix if Arteta’s side are to go on and win silverware.
The addition of Andrea Berta behind the scenes should certainly help the Gunners during the summer transfer window, but there are still deals to be done with some of the current squad members.
While Jorginho, Raheem Sterling, and Gabriel Martinelli could all depart in the coming weeks, Football Insider understands that Arsenal are close to agreeing a new deal for Thomas Partey.
The Ghanian has been a cornerstone of the Gunners’ midfield this season, so as well as adding some dynamic attackers to the team, Arteta needs to remember which players have been important this season.
If the North London side are to lift either the Champions League or Premier League, they must build quickly on the promise shown over the last couple of campaigns, rather than take a step backwards.