Bukayo Saka breaks silence on new Arsenal role as Declan Rice approves Mikel Arteta decision
Bukayo Saka expressed his pride in leading Arsenal as captain in their match against Chelsea on Saturday evening. The 22-year-old winger, who had never before captained his childhood club, took on the role when Mikel Arteta substituted Martin Odegaard for Kai Havertz with fifteen minutes remaining.
During Saka’s captaincy, Arsenal managed to secure a draw against Chelsea.
Notably, the Hale End graduate played a key role by delivering an assist to Leandro Trossard at the far post, securing a vital point in the race for the Premier League title.
Following the game, Saka commemorated the moment with a joyful Instagram post. Beneath a picture of himself donning the captain’s armband, the English international added the following message: “An honour to wear the armband for the first time. My club! [Captain and red heart emojis].”
His post garnered almost 200,000 likes within just a couple of hours, as Arsenal fans inundated the comment section with expressions of support. However, one message that stood out came from Declan Rice, the former West Ham midfielder, who wrote: “What a sight [love heart eyes emoji].”
Out of the many seasoned players on the field who could have been chosen as captain, it was Saka who received the honor, and Declan Rice clearly supports Mikel Arteta’s daring choice. In his post-match remarks, the Arsenal manager commended his players for their response when Chelsea extended their lead.
“The way the team reacted to the second goal is phenomenal from the players on the pitch and the players on the bench thinking how the hell am I going to change this game,” said Arteta. “I loved that. I really liked as well going into the dressing room and it’s really quiet, after drawing 2-2 with Chelsea and coming back from 2-0 down, because I know that they wanted more. That’s the positive.”
And then, on Arsenal’s display of character, Arteta added: “I have no doubt about that. I could see at half time, it was a knife between our teeth and we had to do better and the game was still there for us. We had that belief.
“Even with the goal we conceded, we continued to be like this. I loved that about the team and I’m going to demand that from them every single day. This is who we are and the only way to still create a lot of issues with the opponent even when you’re not at your best.”
Bukayo Saka breaks silence on new Arsenal role as Declan Rice approves Mikel Arteta decision