In a world where giants stride across the pitch with the ease of mythic heroes, it’s striking how a single moment of honesty can eclipse a thousand highlight reels.
Bukayo Saka—Arsenal’s crown jewel, England’s sharpest edge—has lifted the curtain on a truth many didn’t expect.
For all the brilliance he has shared the field with, one player remains untouchable in his memory.
At just 24, Saka has already carved a legacy of consistency and courage.
Since bursting into Arsenal’s first team in 2018, he has amassed 76 goals in 277 appearances, lifting the FA Cup in 2020 and carrying Mikel Arteta’s project with the composure of a seasoned veteran.
This season, Arsenal hit the international break four points clear at the top of the Premier League—thanks in no small part to Saka’s relentless influence.
With England, the numbers sing the same tune. Fourteen goals in 47 caps, decisive performances in two consecutive European Championships, and a starring role in England’s 2–0 win over Serbia in their latest World Cup qualifier.
Yet, when Saka was asked who was the greatest teammate he has ever played alongside, he didn’t turn to England’s captain Harry Kane, nor to Declan Rice—his partner at both club and country.
He looked backward, toward the beginning.
Why Mesut Özil Still Stands Above Kane and Rice in Bukayo Saka’s Eyes
During his earliest chapters in Arsenal’s senior squad, Saka shared the dressing room with Mesut Özil—the mercurial German playmaker whose imagination stitched together some of the Premier League’s most unforgettable passages of play.
Signed from Real Madrid in 2013 for £42.5m, Özil delivered 44 goals, 254 appearances, and four FA Cups before leaving in 2021.
Even as Özil’s later years drifted into quieter spells with Fenerbahçe and Istanbul Basaksehir, the impression he left on the young Hale End graduate refused to fade.
When speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Saka didn’t hesitate:
“Maybe Mesut Özil. High-quality player, man. It was just fun… hard to describe it. Fun to play with him, fun to watch him.”
Those few words carried the kind of weight only admiration can forge. Amid all the superstars Saka lines up with today, it is Özil’s artistry—his vision, his velvet touch, his effortless orchestration—that still defines “greatness” for him.
And perhaps that is the heart of the story: even the brightest stars carry shadows of the legends who shaped them.
