‘I remember’: Former Man City coach now makes interesting claim about Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka
Mark Kennedy has claimed that Bukayo Saka was the only player he came up against during his time as a youth coach at Manchester City who was as good as Tommy Doyle.
Kennedy was speaking to The Athletic about the quality of the 22-year-old, who joined Wolves on loan from the Premier League champions in the summer.
Arsenal fans will not be at all surprised to hear Bukayo Saka was the most impressive player rival coaches have seen. The 22-year-old, of course, has been absolutely outstanding for a number of years already in the Gunners’ first-team.
Mark Kennedy says Tommy Doyle was as good as Bukayo Saka
It was remarkable just how quickly Saka took to life in the senior side at the Emirates. For some time, the England international was one of the only positives about the Arsenal team. And he has continued to improve ever since.
Tommy Doyle has taken a little longer to establish himself at the highest level. He played a starring role for Sheffield United last season as they sealed promotion to the top-flight.
His former Manchester City youth team coach Mark Kennedy will not be surprised that he is now impressing out on loan with Wolves. He suggested that he would put Doyle alongside the Arsenal star as being the best talent he came across while working at Eastlands.
“I’m not saying Tommy is the next Paul Gascoigne, but at 14 he would drive past people and push people out of the way with his upper body. He was a real all-rounder. He was outstanding,” he told The Athletic.
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“I remember saying to my assistant at the time that Tommy must be one of the best midfielders in Europe for his age. We played all of the top clubs in Europe and the only player I saw who was as good as Tommy was Bukayo Saka at Arsenal. He could hit diagonals like Gerrard, he could go past people like Gazza and he could score with left foot and right foot.”
Every club needs someone like Arsenal star in their ranks
Every club in the world would benefit from having a Bukayo Saka in their ranks. Not only is he an amazing footballer who may – somehow – improve further in the years to come, but he is also an outstanding person.
His attitude has always been spot on. And that has helped put him in a position where he is now one of the best players in the world at the age of 22.
