Arsenal: Arteta sets ambitious target for Bukayo Saka

The Spanish coach wants to see his winger become even more decisive in front of goal

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Arsenal: Arteta sets ambitious target for Bukayo Saka

13.10.26 15:00 Champions League

Arsenal

Lille

Mikel Arteta expects more from Bukayo Saka in attack. Despite an encouraging start to the season with Arsenal, the England international could, according to his coach, further improve his efficiency in front of goal. Ahead of the Champions League fixture against Lille, the Spanish coach stressed the importance of creating more chances rather than focusing on a target number of goals.

Arteta wants to see Saka create more chances

According to The Standard, Mikel Arteta believes his winger has the qualities needed to become even more prolific. The 25-year-old scored 20 goals in all competitions during the 2023-2024 season, the best tally of his career to date. This season, Saka has scored three goals after the first six rounds of the Premier League.

🚨🔴 ARTETA CHALLENGES SAKA TO REACH SUPERSTAR LEVEL! 🎯🔥 Mikel Arteta wants Bukayo Saka to develop a more ruthless instinct in front of goal, urging the Arsenal star to target multiple goals in every game rather than focus on season-long milestones. ⚽💪 https://t.co/MqKxaH01Os
— PRIME SPORTS (@primesports_360) October 13, 2026

His coach nevertheless believes he could already have done better, particularly after several missed chances in recent matches. “He could easily have scored four or five more goals,” Arteta explained, according to comments reported by The Standard. The Arsenal manager mainly wants to see his player approach every match with the ambition of scoring several times, without limiting himself to a specific target for the season as a whole.

Arsenal want to move their winger closer to goal

To improve his output, Arsenal are also working on Saka’s positioning. The idea is to bring him into central areas more often, close to the penalty area and the opposition goal, so that he can benefit from crosses, rebounds and cutbacks. Arteta believes that repeatedly finding himself in dangerous positions will eventually increase the number of goals scored by his player. He therefore accepts that some chances will be missed, provided Saka continues to get into the right areas and take his chances.

🗣️ Mikel Arteta on Bukayo Saka getting into more goalscoring positions: "That's where we need to get him. And if he misses the chance, so be it. At the end, the more volume we generate, the bigger the probability of him scoring more goals. "And he's been getting into great positions. He's getting shots, he's getting one-touch finishes, tap-ins. And that's the kind of unpredictability that we have created with that player, because otherwise we know how the opponents are going to protect him. "And he's doing great. And he could have another four or five goals by now, easily. But if he continues like that, we know. "So when he talks about, 'I want to score a certain amount of goals', he needs to be thinking about scoring a certain amount of goals per game, in terms of where he wants to be at the end of the season. "And if that shifts that mentality, he will get into those positions and score more goals." 🎙️ Is that the next evolution for Saka? 🗣️ Arteta: "Yeah, for sure. And he can do that."
— Connor Humm (@TikiTakaConnor) October 12, 2026

This approach should also make the winger more difficult to defend against: by alternating his actions on the flank with runs into the box, he can become less predictable for opponents. The match against Lille in the Champions League will provide another opportunity to observe this development.