Rio Ferdinand and Joe Cole have picked out Bukayo Saka as Arsenal’s key man against Real Madrid – but provided that the forward is ‘fit and firing’ for the two-legged Champions League quarter-final.
Saka made his long-awaited return after three months out in Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Fulham on Tuesday night, coming on within the 66th minute to a standing ovation on the Emirates.
And it proved a dream night for Saka, with the 23-year-old winger heading home what turned out to be the winner just seven minutes after his introduction.
Nevertheless, Arsenal’s defensive injury crisis worsened as Gabriel Magalhaes hobbled off early on within the 2-1 victory and the Brazilian defender has undergone scans to find out as to if he can feature within the club’s upcoming games.
While Saka could also be desperate to step up his recovery and get more minutes in his legs, Mikel Arteta will little question be tempted to wrap Saka in cotton wool ahead of an important period of the season each, domestically and in Europe.
Get personalised updates on Arsenal on a regular basis
Get up to search out news in your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Join to our newsletter after which select your team within the link we’ll send you so we will get football news tailored to you.
The Gunners first have a visit to Everton to contend this weekend and Saka’s role – whether as a starter or a substitute – is prone to be a hot topic of conversation heading into Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off at Goodison Park.
Just three days later, Arteta’s men play host to Madrid in the primary leg of what guarantees to be an intriguing quarter-final contest with European champions Madrid – and Ferdinand believes Saka’s fitness will probably be a giant determining factor across the 2 matches.
‘If Saka was a fit and firing Saka, I’d be taking a look at it and going: I feel Arsenal have gotten a probability to nick this, clean sheet and nick it,’ the legendary ex-Manchester United and England defender said on TNT Sports’ The Breakdown.
‘But I don’t think they’ve got anything up front that is absolutely going to affect the sport in the best way Saka could.’
Ferdinand added: ‘At this level, I don’t think you’ll be able to be great a method and be one-dimensional, the best way Arsenal are for the time being.
How Arsenal will manage Bukayo Saka’s return
Each time he plays they will probably be straight back at it on the training ground, testing his hamstring muscle strength, testing his biomechanics, testing his muscular endurance. They will probably be taking a look at getting him that exposure [back to first team football], come back in and see how he responds. Give him a bit more exposure, get him back in again and see how he responds and make sure that every little thing looks okay. They are going to keep doing that until they feel he has built of a level of resilience ands robustness so that they can start putting the pieces together more often. Arsenal have world class staff, they are going to have a really detailed and complicated plan and I’m sure they are going to do job.
They’ll have some key markers to assist them understand his hamstring functions, strength, its endurance, a few of his biomechanics and movement capabilities. They are going to take a look at recovery as well and understand what he’s in a position to do in a game, what sort of distance he covers, what number of accelerations, they will probably be comparing this to pre-injury and other athletes on the pitch to make sure that he’s at the identical level or what they and Saka would expect.
Saka has had loads of downtime which in some respects is great but ideally they’d have wanted him with more football under his belt to come back back in at the top of the season ready. In fact, a world class player coming back in can really help drive them towards the top of the ending line but in addition they have a player who hasn’t had loads of football. Even when the physical side of things is great, will he be match fit, will he be sharp. Can he just slot back in tactically and technically?
Stephen Smith, Kitman Labs Founder and CEO, was speaking exclusively to Metro.
Kitman Labs is the world’s leading performance intelligence and technology company, specialising in injury welfare and performance analytics working with the Premier League.
‘You’ll be able to’t just depend on that, you’ll want to still have a threat.
‘Atletico Madrid still have a threat after they go forward, like [Julian] Alvarez and [Antoine] Griezmann, but Arsenal haven’t got that type without Saka, especially, and other players that aren’t in form.
‘That’s my only concern for Arsenal going forward.’
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an online
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Cole was in agreement along with his former England colleague, giving Arsenal ‘half a probability’ should Saka return to full strength in time for the eagerly anticipated tie.
‘Arsenal are equipped to beat them within the sense that they’re among the finest teams defensively left within the competition,’ Cole said.
‘They usually’ve got set-pieces. I feel they’re crucial.
‘If Saka’s fit, if he can provide you with half-hour they usually can stay in the sport, I feel they’ve got half a probability. But you’ll be able to’t look past Madrid.’
Ferdinand confidently backed Madrid to defend their title in the beginning of the campaign, with the La Liga giants trying to grow to be European champions for a sixteenth time this season.
However the 2008 Champions League winner has modified his prediction after watching Paris Saint-Germain get the higher of Liverpool within the previous round.
‘I feel before a ball was kicked I might have said Real Madrid,’ Ferdinand explained.
‘But seeing these knockout games and the best way that PSG played Liverpool, there was a giant difference, I assumed, between the teams, especially in the primary game.
‘I’m going to go along with PSG. it’s the primary time I’ve checked out them seriously and gone: I actually, genuinely think they’ve got the players and the team to beat anyone on this competition now so I’m going to go for them.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the newest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: When can Liverpool win the Premier League title? Earliest date revealed
MORE: Andrea Berta meets with agent to debate £48m Arsenal transfer
MORE: Alexander Isak injury update after Newcastle United beat Brentford
