According to the Mirror, Mikel Arteta told Sky Sports that rotation was the reason why promising talent Bukayo Saka was benched for today’s clash against north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Former Arsenal captain Arteta suggested that the 18-year-old was simply rested, adding that he’ll need to ‘rotate’ some players as we approach the end of the season.
The versatile ace signed a new contract just over a week ago, with the Mirror reporting that the talent is tied down until 2024 now.
Saka has been phenomenal during his breakthrough season, with four goals and an impressive 11 assists in 35 first-team appearances across all competitions.
Here’s what the Spaniard had to say on benching the exciting talent:
“He’s played a lot of games, we have a lot of games coming up, we have to rotate some players, we had some issues during the week.”
“Every week will be a little bit different.”
Arsenal ended up losing 2-1 to Jose Mourinho’s side this afternoon, Saka did feature off the bench, with the ace replacing Nicolas Pepe in the 70th minute.
Defensive errors ultimately cost the Gunners, Sead Kolasinac was at fault for Heung-Min Son’s equaliser and a poor marking scheme at a corner led to Toby Alderweireld scoring the winner.
Whilst Saka certainly deserves a rest, it is strange to see that Arteta decided to enact this in of the side’s biggest games of the season – you’d think a key talent would be given the chance to impress.