Arsenal legend criticises Saka's 'consistency', claiming Doku is 'better'

Suraj Radia

• 12 Sept 2024 22:00 BST
• 3 min read

Former Arsenal winger Robert Pires has questioned Bukayo Saka’s consistency and believes Manchester City star Jeremy Doku is a ‘technically stronger’ player than the England international.

Saka has scored 41 goals and provided 27 assists across the last three Premier League season for Arsenal, missing just three games and improving his output year-on-year.

Doku, meanwhile, joined City last summer for €63 million and played 29 league games in his debut season, 11 of which were off the bench, helping Pep Guardiola’s side win a fourth-straight Premier League title.

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In an interview bound to raise eyebrows from some Arsenal supporters, former Highbury hero Pires believes Saka needs to step up his displays on the big stage to become better than Doku.

Pires told Wettbasis.com via The Mirror: “Bukayo still lacks a certain level of consistency and experience, especially in the big games. Perhaps this season, especially in the Champions League, he will show a more convincing face than last season when it counts.

“For example, in my opinion Jeremy Doku from Manchester City is a bit better because he is technically stronger, has better dribbling skills and is more imaginative.”

Saka vs Doku – who is more consistent?

While Doku has proven to be one of the quickest and trickiest players in the Premier League, with only one player completing more dribbles than him last season, the 22-year-old’s end product leaves much to be desired.

Five of Doku’s 11 goal contributions came in one game for City last season, when the Belgian ran riot with four assists and one goal in his side’s 6-1 win over Bournemouth in November.

Outside of that game, Doku had just two goals and four assists in his remaining 28 league appearances and the youngster went ten games without a goal contribution after returning from a five-week injury in January.

Compared

Bukayo Saka

F (R)

Arsenal

Bukayo Saka

F (R)

Arsenal

VS

Jérémy Doku

M (L)

Man City

Jérémy Doku

M (L)

Man City

2023/2024

Season Statistics

2023/2024

47	Appearances	45
3896	Minutes Played	2282
20	Goals	7
13	Assists	9
111	Key Passes	60
1582	Passes	1133
126	Shots Total	87
18	Interceptions	13
85	Tackles	56

Saka, meanwhile, did not go more than four games without providing a goal or assist for Arsenal and the 23-year-old was a nominee for the Premier League Young player of the Season award.

While Saka’s output in big games could certainly be up for debate, his consistency has proven to be the major catalyst to Arsenal’s rise into title challengers and the forward will undoubtedly take Pires’ words as motivation to silence any critics this season.