Arsenal’s recent renaissance has been built around a core of young players and one of those youngsters has stood out in particular.
Mikel Arteta’s side have brought an end to their slump with victories against Chelsea, Brighton and West Bromwich Albion in their last three Premier League matches.
While Alexandre Lacazette has netted four goals of those vital wins, Emile Smith Rowe has got tongues wagging for his burst of creativity and Kieran Tierney has driven the side on with his unique brand of determination, it has been Bukayo Saka’s time more than any.
Saka is still only 19 years old, but his performances have been so consistently impressive across a variety of positions that he is already a firm Arsenal fan-favourite.
He has scored twice and registered one assist in the last three matches, with his strike in the 4-0 win over West Brom a reminder of the Arsenal of old.
Saka is already a fixture in the Gunners side and his status was reflected by the long-term contract he signed in July, which ties him to the club until the summer of 2024.
His eye-catching performances have made him extremely valuable to Arsenal, who would never consider selling one of their prized assets.
However, were they to entertain the prospect of letting Saka go, they could command a huge fee, because according to the CIES Football Observatory he is the 15th most valuable player in Europe.
The website’s algorithm believes that Saka is currently worth €116.2million (£105.11m) - more than Barcelona starlet Ansu Fati (€108.4m), Tottenham captain Harry Kane (€107m) and Bayern Munich forward Serge Gnabry (€103.3m).
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford tops the list, with an estimated value of €165.6m, ahead of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland (€152m) and Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold (€151.6m), with Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (€151.1m) and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe (€149.4m) completing the top five.
It’s not bad company to keep for Saka, who only has one Arsenal team-mate included in the top 100.
Nicolas Pepe, who Arsenal signed for £72m (€79m) in August 2019, is now estimated to be worth just €58.9m.
