26 January 2024 , 02:00
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Arsenal's golden boy Bukayo Saka once opened up on the kind of demands former team-mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would set him during their shared time at the Emirates.
Nowadays, Saka is the main man in the red half of north London and often the player to turn to when it comes to getting the Gunners out of trouble. His rise from academy graduate to donning the captain's armband this season has been nothing short of remarkable, but the Arsenal faithful may have Aubameyang partly to thank for that.
"Every time I played with him I've always had so much confidence,” Saka told beIN Sports in March 2021. "Sometimes he would tell you, you would have to pass to him and if you make a mistake then he can be quite angry.
"But the game where I scored my first goal for Arsenal against [Eintracht] Frankfurt [in September 2019], before the game he said to me, 'Bukayo, you know you're very good player. If you're there in front of goal and you want to shoot – shoot. I'm not going to say anything.' My parents love him so much as well."
Few loved Aubameyang more than the Gunners fanbase for the majority of his four years at the club, but the Gabon international left under a cloud after a dramatic fall-out with boss Mikel Arteta led to the striker being exiled from the first-team.
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He initially left for Barcelona, but six months later was back in the capital plying his trade for Arsenal's London rivals Chelsea. That move was an undeniable disaster and Aubameyang now lines up for French outfit Marseille, where he has since gone some way to recapturing his best form.
As for Saka, the 22-year-old reacted to Aubameyang's demands in the best way possible and has since established himself as a leader in his own right and is apparently someone the next generation of Arsenal talent can turn to for advice. That is at least according to Gunners youngster Charlie Patino, currently on loan at Swansea City.
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Bukayo Saka has previously praised Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's influenceTipped to be the next big thing off of the Arsenal production line, Patino recently told Sky Bet about own taste of first-team action in 2021 and revealed who offered him some words of wisdom when he needed it most.
"On the pitch, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, and even Bukayo Saka - he was still young, but I still went up to him because he followed the pathway that I ultimately want to follow," the 20-year-old explained.
"It was good for me to go and speak to him and get some information from him. Everyone was helpful when I was training with them, and when I did something nice, they were really encouraging but if I messed up, they just said ‘don't worry, get on with it - forget about it and go again.'"
Not only is Saka so vital to Arsenal's present, his advice appears to be benefitting the club's future.