Former Arsenal striker Eduardo has suggested that Bukayo Saka should be the new captain of the club, following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s departure in January.
The former Croatia international has suggested that the captaincy isn’t necessarily as political at Arsenal as it can be at other clubs, as he made the somewhat surprise suggestion that the Gunners could already promote youngster Saka to this big role.
Saka has been a huge success for Arsenal after rising up through their academy, and the England international would surely be honoured to wear the armband for the club he’s been at for his entire career.
Still, it’s a bit early for him as he’s still only 20 years of age, and it might not be ideal to have that kind of added pressure on those young shoulders.
Eduardo, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at their launch of the 5-A-Side bet on Crystal Palace v Arsenal, clearly has faith in Saka, though, as he explained why he thinks Mikel Arteta could do well to make him the next skipper.
“It’s so difficult to predict who will be Arsenal’s next captain. That role isn’t necessarily as political as it is at other clubs,” Eduardo said.
“It’s very easy in other teams to pick out who should be captain and why, and usually it’s down to who has been there the longest, but that’s not necessarily the case with Arsenal.
“During my time with the club, it was Cesc Fabregas and then Robin van Persie. But it always changed after that; Per Mertesacker came in and took the armband, you’ve had Laurent Koscielny, Granit Xhaka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
“I think maybe it’s a role you could give to Bukayo Saka. It has to be someone who sets an example, someone who delivers on the pitch, and someone who is consistently going to play – and you have to say he ticks all of those boxes. Maybe they should give it to him.”