North London club Arsenal have sent birthday greetings to young winger Bukayo Saka who turned 19 on Saturday.
The Gunners took to their verified Twitter handle to congratulate Saka.
โHappy 19th birthday, @BukayoSaka87!โ
Born in Ealing, Greater London, Saka attended Edward Betham CofE Primary School before Greenford High School.
He started his career with Arsenalโs Hale End academy and once he turned 17 years old, Saka was given a professional contract by Arsenal and promoted to the under-23 side.
On 29 November 2018, Saka made his senior competitive debut for Arsenal in their Europa League match against Vorskla Poltava.
He came on as a 68th minute substitute for Aaron Ramsey. On 13 December 2018, he made his first full home debut for Arsenal in their Europa League match against FK Qarabag.
And on 1 January 2019, he made his debut in the Premier League in a 4โ1 win against Fulham after coming on for Alex Iwobi in the 83rd minute.
Last season he was voted third in Arsenalโs Player of the Season award and has been shortlisted for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Meanwhile, the talented Arsenal winger of Nigerian parentage Bukayo Saka made his competitive debut for England U21s, a day before his nineteenth birthday, as the Young Lions thrashed Kosovo 6-0 in a European Championship qualifier.
The PFA Young Player of the Year nominee was named in the starting lineup ahead of club teammate Reiss Nelson, Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ryan Sessegnon, who have all made more professional appearances than the Anglo-Nigerian whizkid.
Saka was denied a goal on his debut when the Kosovo goalkeeper Florian Smakiqi came out to parry his shot in the first half and he was later replaced by Hudson-Odoi with 62 minutes gone.
A hat-trick from Eddie Nketiah and goals from substitutes Nelson, Ryan Sessegnon and Jude Bellingham helped the Young Lions register a comprehensive win at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Pristina.
With Saka on the radar of the Nigeria Football Federation, Friday evening’s game was monitored by Super Eagles fans and one of the things they noted was the Arsenal starlet picked over the more experienced Hudson-Odoi in the starting XI.
