Thierry Henry reveals 'brutal' advice behind Bukayo Saka's Arsenal transformation

Thierry Henry has explained the brutal advice he gave to Bukayo Saka earlier in his Arsenal career

Thierry Henry admits he gave Bukayo Saka some brutal advice on a phone call prior to his brilliant Arsenal transformation. The Gunners academy graduate has been a mainstay in Mikel Arteta's side since breaking into the team back in 2018.

Saka is closing in on 300 appearances for Arsenal, despite his tender age, and has scored 78 goals in all competitions. He's also been capped 48 times for England, scoring a further 14 goals for the Three Lions.

The Arsenal legend has offered some insight into a conversation he had with Saka earlier in his career and feels the winger gives his coaches so much on the field that statistics don't always reflect.

Henry told Betway: "I don’t want to say too much, but some of the guys have my number and whenever they want to call me, they know they can. What we talk about is on them to say if they want to, but they know they can call me and talk about life, football or whatever.

"I can only say thank you for what Bukayo said. It’s just calling a friend, I guess, because I consider Bukayo like a little brother in a certain way.

"Whenever I can speak to a player, I think that should be your duty. You don’t owe anything to anyone, but you give. I will say that honesty is key, so whenever I speak to a player I am brutally honest."

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Henry was left raving about Saka's performances and says there's a lot more to the 24-year-old than just statistics.

The two-time Premier League winner said: "Consistency is key, and Bukayo has been consistent for the past two or three years with England and Arsenal. Sometimes, stats don’t tell you how a player plays.

"If you take Andres Iniesta and you only look at his stats, you’ll think he was an OK player. Now if you watch the game, it’s a different ball game.

"Stats don’t tell you that Bukayo Saka goes up and down, defends the other winger, helps his right back, goes on the counter and tries to deliver.

"The amount of time that people kick him, he gets back up and he goes again, and he wants the ball in every situation. You have to watch the game to see that. Unfortunately, nowadays a lot of people only look at the stats.

"This is where Saka gives you a lot of options as a coach. We saw in the Euros when he started to play as a wing back – give me another winger right now of that magnitude who will accept to play as a wing back, or defend like he does. You have to watch the game to see what a player is doing, and what Bukayo brings to a team is second to none."

When asked what he thought was Saka's biggest change since breaking into the team, Henry said: "His eyes have changed.

"You know when someone has that look, it’s over, and I think that changed a bit for Bukayo. Sometimes people said, 'Bukayo is a nice guy.' I don’t like that, personally. On the field, you don’t have to be nice. Winners are not nice. They want to win."