Bukayo Saka has named former Arsenal and Manchester United winger Alexis Sanchez as one of his early role models in football, with the attacker admiring the Chilean’s style of play.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, the 21-year-old attacker revealed that Sanchez’s approach to taking on opponent players was something that Saka has taken into his modern game, with the South American one of the best dribblers in the Premier League during his peak with Arsenal.
It might be easy to forget, but there was a time when Sanchez was one of the most dangerous forwards in Europe, with Arsene Wenger getting the best out of the former FC Barcelona star before his move to United, where Saka has clearly been inspired by the winger during his glory years in north London.
Saka said on Sanchez inspiring his style of play: “The way I play, I’m always going to attract contact. I watched Alexis Sanchez a lot growing up. He was a special player, I loved many things about him. That’s one of the qualities he had, he always got up, fought to the end. You could say I took that from him.”
With Saka one of the most fouled players in the Premier League based on his direct style of play, it’s no wonder that Sanchez is an inspiration to the England international, with the former Arsenal star someone who got the Emirates faithful off their seats on a regular occurrence.
Indeed, whilst the winger arguably made the wrong choice to leave Arsenal for United in the infamous Henrikh Mkhitaryan swap-deal, there’s no denying that Sanchez left a lasting impact on north London, and Saka learning from the attacker has been nothing short of a huge benefit for the 21-year-old.
Taking the no. 7 shirt and playing with flair and zero fear each week, Saka’s impact for Arsenal over the last three seasons has been nothing short of miraculous, with the winger easily the true heir to Sanchez’s role at the club and doing so with incredible confidence.
With Gabriel Martinelli playing out on the left and Gabriel Jesus leading the line, Saka isn’t the only one who has that street footballer edge to their game, which could be a large reason why the attacking trio are so beloved by Arsenal supporters and why the three works so well together.
