Arsenal fans may have to wait until next season to see the best of Bukayo Saka ahead of his imminent return from hamstring surgery, Gunners expert Charles Watts believes.
The 23-year-old is believed to be on the cusp of coming back from the most serious injury of his career so far, having torn his hamstring during the 5-1 Premier League win over Crystal Palace in the middle of December.
Following a three-month recovery period, Saka is reportedly targeting a comeback against Real Madrid on April 8 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, and he could even make the bench against Everton and Fulham in the two Premier League games immediately following the international break.
However, while Watts has refused to downplay the importance of Saka’s return, he has warned Gooners that the winger may not return to 100% until the start of next season, and expectations for the final weeks of 2024-25 must therefore be tempered.
“It’ll be absolutely huge for Arsenal,” Watts told Sports Mole. “The plan is hopefully that he will be available after the international break. They’re going to really step up the last part of his rehab over the next couple of weeks. And then when everyone comes back after the internationals, Saka will, fingers crossed, be able to join in with them, do some proper first team training.
“Then you’ve got Fulham, Everton and the big one, Real Madrid. Saka will have that fixture just circled on his calendar on his wall. He’ll be looking at it every single day. But he’s been out since December 21, he’s had his hamstring reattached. It’s a massive, massive thing.
‘Arsenal won’t see the best Saka until next season’
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“And my worry is it’s just like, ‘Oh my God, Saka’s back, everything’s going to be fixed.’ They’ve got to take their time with him, and they will. They won’t put him in until they’re absolutely sure that he’s fine. But it’s like coming back for pre-season for Saka.
“We’ve just got to temper expectations a little bit to think he’s going to come back in and be the saviour, suddenly everything’s going to be back to normal, Arsenal are going to score loads of goals. I really hope that happens. But he’s got to basically start again from scratch after so long out.
“It will be huge. The cheer that will go around the Emirates when he first comes out, everyone has missed him massively. Arsenal, the fans, Mikel Arteta have missed him. It’s going to be fantastic to see him back, but I still don’t think we will see the best Bukayo Saka until next season.”
Despite not playing a single minute of football in 2025, Saka still boasts the joint second-most assists in the current Premier League season, having set up 10 top-flight goals before suffering his devastating rupture.
Only Mohamed Salah (17) has registered more assists than Saka, whose total of 10 is also level with Brentford’s Mikkel Damsgaard and Fulham’s Antonee Robinson, and the Hale End graduate also boasts nine goals of his own from 24 outings this season.
Saka has never had to overcome an injury as serious as a torn hamstring, though, leading to the expectation that Mikel Arteta will ease him back in gradually, especially with Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Martinelli and Raheem Sterling all able to cover on the right.
Should Arsenal risk Saka for Fulham, Everton games?
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However, rather than spare him for the first-leg visit of Los Blancos, Watts has affirmed that the Englishman must be given minutes against Fulham and Everton if he is to be considered a realistic option for the Champions League quarter-finals.
“You’ve got to play him before,” he added. “If he wants to have any chance of playing against Madrid, then he’s got to get some minutes against Everton and Fulham. I’m sure that will be absolutely the plan. Fifteen, 20 minutes against Fulham, maybe half an hour against Everton, and then you decide whether he’s fit enough to to start against Madrid.
“Those are the two huge games for Arsenal. I don’t want to count my chickens just yet, but you think the top four is done. The title’s gone, obviously, so all the focus is on the Champions League now. If Arsenal go out against Real Madrid, then those last few league games is just take it easy with him, get minutes, get ready for next season. No, no risk taken.
“All the preparation now is just to try and get him available to play against Madrid, because he could be the difference maker. Even if he’s 70%, 80% fit, he could still be the guy that makes a difference.
“I still feel like that first leg might come a little bit too early in terms of a first start. But the second leg in Madrid, maybe that’s a more realistic sort of proposition in terms of when his first start could be. As Saka has shown, he is quite good at it in terms of coming back from shorter layoffs. This is the first significant one.”
When Saka returns to his rightful right-wing position, the 23-year-old can be sure to expect the rough treatment he has received from opposing defenders in the embryonic stages of his senior career.
Watts’s Saka “fear” revealed as foul stats assessed
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Saka has drawn 32 fouls in 16 Premier League games this season – out of all Arsenal players, only Leandro Trossard (36) has been felled more often – and he won the fifth-most free kicks of any player in the whole of the 2023-24 top-flight season.
However, Watts is not concerned about the prospect of the attacker being on the end of cynical challenges from opposing players, and how his hamstring holds up with quick bursts of acceleration is going to be the bigger concern.
“He will certainly get kicked, no doubt about that,” Watts added. “I think he’ll be fine, though, because that’s different. We’re worried about how the hamstring is, how the body reacts. In terms of impact stuff, I’m not too worried about that.
“It’s just something he’s had to deal with his whole career. I’m sure he’ll be fine when he comes back, he’ll just have to take the whacks. My fear is more how the muscle deals with it, how the hamstring is.
“I’m sure that’s what they’ll be when he really steps up the acceleration, the bursts, the quick turns and all that. That’s going to be the key. How does the muscle deal with that strain that he’s not had to do since December?”
Arsenal are also reportedly planning to start formal contract talks with Saka, whose current terms are due to expire in just over two years’ time.
