It's been a difficult week for Bukayo Saka but Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta believes the England forward should take great heart in the way he has united people after the Euro 2020 final loss to Italy on Sunday.
The 19-year-old has received messages of support from throughout the club after the penalty shoot-out defeat to Azzurri, and his manager is certain he will come out of the experience stronger.
"He's fine," Arteta told Arsenal Media. "Obviously he had some tough days after what happened in the final but I think you have to look at the whole picture."
"This kid, at 19 years old, has played almost every game in the Premier League. He was our Player of the Season, I think he has earned the respect and admiration of everyone at the football club. But not only that, he's gone to an international stage, he started the European competition with an injury, and still, he has managed to be in the starting XI."
Arteta says that seeing Saka sparkle on the international stage came as no surprise to him, and he says the challenge for him now is to go to the next level. "I spoke to Gareth [Southgate] before the tournament and we all shared the same opinion on B: that this kid is going to push everybody there, just the way he trains, the way he is, the way he competes," he added.
Earlier on Monday, Arsenal had also condemned the racial abuse being faced by teenager Saka. Saka along with Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho all missed the chance to net goals in the penalty shootouts at Wembley. The English players were then abused on social media.
The teenager will now be looking to help the Gunners to improve on their efforts from last season when they missed out on European qualification.
( With inputs from ANI )
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