Theo Walcott says defenders are terrified of 22-year-old Arsenal player

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Theo Walcott has been praising the impact of Arsenal star Bukayo Saka despite finally missing a Premier League match for the Gunners.

Speaking after Arsenal’s monumental win over Manchester City, the 22-year-old still came up in conversation.

Such is the importance of Bukayo Saka that even when he isn’t in the team he’s still a topic worth discussing.

Before missing the Manchester City match, Saka had played in 87 consecutive Premier League games.

He’s almost certainly the first name on the team sheet for Mikel Arteta when he’s fully fit.

No player in the Arsenal squad can create chances and score goals from the right-hand side like Saka can.

Arteta was forced to move Gabriel Jesus out wide and although he did well up against Josko Gvardiol, he couldn’t carve out too many chances for his teammates.

Walcott has admitted that Saka terrifies defenders when he’s on the pitch and although Arsenal won without him, he would have posted a completely different challenge to Gvardiol.

It was no surprise to see him withdraw from the England squad ahead of this international break after failing to complete 90 minutes in Arsenal’s last three matches.

The last thing Arteta will want is his star player further aggravating a knock.

Walcott raves about Arsenal star Saka

Walcott was asked if Arsenal rely too heavily on Saka and said: “I think there’s always an element of that.

“He’s a player that’s so positive when he has the ball, he puts doubt into defender’s minds, you would have hated playing against him I’m sure [to Gary Neville].

“Yeah of course, when your best player’s missing you’re always going to miss him, it’s like Man City with [Kevin] De Bruyne, they’re missing him massively.

“He’s always going to create chances from nothing. That’s the thing, he’s the sort of player that would create a chance from nothing, you would just give him the ball and he’ll keep going.

“Like I said, the international break has come at a good time for Arsenal because he can get his players back fit.”

Plenty of Arsenal fans will agree with Walcott that the break in Premier League matches has come at the perfect time for Saka.

He needs time to rest and recover and given England have virtually already qualified for next summer’s European Championships, there’s no need for him to be risked.

All eyes will be on whether Saka can return to fitness in time to face Chelsea in two weeks.