An Aston Villa legend has come out with a shock admission that he would have Arsenal and England starboy Bukayo Saka starting ahead of the likes of David Beckham in an all-time England XI.
Saka has been on the road to stardom ever since he made his debut for the Gunners in the Europa League back in 2019 under the management of current Villa boss Unai Emery.
The 21-year-old has made just over 150 appearances for Arsenal, racking up 28 goals and 35 assists in the three years since his debut. Furthermore, the Hale End academy graduate has been named Arsenal’s player of the season in his first two full campaigns as a first team player.
Saka unfortunately missed England’s decisive spot-kick during their penalty-shootout in the EURO 2020 final against Italy. The forward, along with Man United duo Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, were subject to tons of online racial abuse.
However, the adversity faced by Saka as a result of his miss highlighted the elite mentality on the winger. During the season following the EUROs campaign, Saka became Arsenal’s primary penalty taker, converting two spot-kicks against Chelsea and Man United, respectively.
The Arsenal number 7’s year really came full circle after he was named England Men’s Player of the Year in September after spectacular performances for both Club and country, where Saka was named man of the match in 6 of his 14 international caps.
Aston Villa legend Gabriel Agbonlahor has been full of praise for the Arsenal winger. The former striker even claimed he’d have Saka starting on the right-hand side for England over the legendary David Beckham, who is undoubtedly up there with the finest footballers England has ever produced.
“Beckham played very well for England but this lad, Saka!” said Agbonlahor on talkSPORT earlier this week.
“Honestly, I rate him so highly. He’s one of the first names on the team sheet. He’s outstanding, quick, can score, look at his composure on Monday for his second goal.
“I’d have Saka on the right [wing of an all-time England XI over Beckham].”
Saka is without doubt an extremely talented, special player. However, he is still in the fledgling stage of his career and needs to be showing these levels of consistency for a much longer period of time if he is to be mentioned in the same bracket as David Beckham.
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