Former Arsenal star Gilberto Silva says that Bukayo Saka has had a great season – and that now the goal will be to improve on his consistency again next year.
The Arsenal winger has missed a huge chunk of the 2024/25 campaign with a hamstring injury, leaving the Gunners to finish second for the third season in a row and crash out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage.
But speaking at the OMO Varzenal Cup, former World Cup winner Gilberto spoke not just about his relationship with várzea football and the connection between Brazilian football with London, but also how impressed he’s been with Saka in the last couple of seasons.
Gilberto Silva: Bukayo Saka can help Arsenal achieve special things
“Bukayo Saka improved a lot last season – he may have suffered with injuries but he’s done a great job and had a very impressive season,” Gilberto told FourFourTwo, after watching Arsenal Guarulhos lift the OMO Varzenal Cup at the Emirates Stadium.
“It’s about consistency from one season to another, how much you produce for the team, how much you can improve as a player on an individual level and as a team player as well. He’s been absolutely outstanding for the club. I hope that in the coming years he can become a much, much stronger player, a much better player, and help Arsenal achieve special things, to win trophies as well.”
The OMO Varzenal Cup forged an unprecedented link between the raw, community-driven world of Brazilian várzea football and the pinnacle of European professional football, with this tournament transporting the Arsenal stadium into something quintessentially South American for the afternoon.
In March, eight grassroots Brazilian teams competed in knockout rounds for a place in the final: Arsenal Guarulhos and Arsenal Raiz earned that right, travelling to the UK to play at the Emirates.
Arsenal legends Ian Wright and Gilberto Silva backed this campaign from OMO/Persil, both offering the teams crucial pre-match guidance drawn from their own careers – and Gilberto told us that he had a big link to várzea football from his own time developing as a player.
“This is how everything began for me in my early days: when I was a child, I’d play football on the streets with my friends, cousins, and later on, I started to play amateur football in my hometown of Guarulhos and the region close by,” Gilberto said.
“Eventually, I had the opportunity to be in a club with the structure to develop myself, develop my skills, and be trained properly by football professionals. This helped improve my quality, tactical skills, and physical abilities. That’s how it started, and it was so emotional to see the guys today.”
“When the Premier League started to be shown in Brazil, it was more or less when I came to Arsenal back in 2002,” the former midfielder says now. “Arsenal started to get a lot of fans from Brazil around that, which is amazing.
“To see várzea be given the world stage in the OMO Varzenal Cup, bringing together my Brazilian heritage and my team, Arsenal, has been a great experience. Watching the final reminded me of how important passion and football are in bringing together communities in a shared sense of belonging. I can’t wait to watch what Arsenal Guarulhos does next!”
For more updates on the campaign, including the launch of KondZilla’s documentary follow @omobrasil
