Bukayo Saka’s Champions League dream hands Arsenal creative strategy for contract announcement

Bukayo Saka is set to commit his future to Arsenal by signing a new five-year deal and the club could be presented with a creative opportunity to announce his contract extension

Bukayo Saka has a dream. A dream that he is close to achieving with Arsenal and if things go to plan it would play a role in his new contract announcement.

The Gunners have made a major breakthrough with regards to talks over the 21-year-old’s future as an agreement in principle has been in place since last month over a new long-term deal that will keep him at the club until 2028.

Furthermore, this development will see Saka become one of Arsenal’s highest-paid players in the club’s history, never mind at present, and there have been claims that an announcement confirming the England international is going nowhere amid links to Liverpool and Manchester City is ready.

With 13 goals and 10 assists to his name across all competitions so far this season, there’s no denying that Saka is showing signs of being a key player at Arsenal for many years to come, so naturally, supporters will be looking forward to hearing that he has officially put pen-paper on a new contract.

However, for some fans, the announcement video for the winger committing his future to the north London outfit will be just as important – if not more so – and based on previous comments from Saka there is a creative way to get it done within the next couple of weeks.

Having established himself in the Arsenal first-team picture during the 2019/20 campaign, he along with the likes of Aaron Ramsdale, Benjamin White, William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe are yet to test themselves on the biggest stage; The UEFA Champions League.

In fact, not since the 2016/17 season when Arsene Wenger was in charge have the Gunners been at Europe’s top table and this six-year absence is something Saka is keen to end as soon as possible.

“I think the Champions League creates so many special nights and it’s a dream for me still to experience one of them and hopefully many more of them,” he told Sky Sports last year.

Barring an unlikely dip in form between now and May 28, Arsenal will qualify for next season’s Champions League group phase. The earliest they can confirm a top-four finish is April 21 – but only on the condition Mikel Arteta’s side beat Leeds United, Liverpool, West Ham United and Southampton in consecutive game weeks.

So with that in mind, what better way for the Gunners to announce Saka’s new contract than to do it as soon as Champions League qualification is secured?

Alternatively, the club can wait until the end of the season as the England star has also set his sights on bringing the Premier League trophy back to north London for the first time in 19 years: “We don’t fear anyone. You can see the way we play, even when City came here,” Saka said after the 4-1 win over Crystal Palace.

“The prize at the end is worth giving everything for. We have the belief and the desire that we want to do something special this year. And nothing can stop us, especially not being tired. We are not going to pretend we don’t know who we are playing next because we have ten finals to go.”