Arsenal officials fly out to USA to sign “the next Mbappe”

For Bukayo Saka, the last year of his career has arguably been the most difficult so far. It’s not been an ideal one for the Arsenal winger at all.

After tearing his hamstring in 2024/25, he then spent a lot of last season playing through injury and the pain barrier. Saka started just 25 Premier League matches and although he played 49 games throughout all competitions, his level was far below what we have come to expect from him.

The winger has been managing achilles tendonitis during 2026 and it’s impacted him heavily at the World Cup. The 24-year-old may well have registered three assists for England but he’s only started two games; the wins over Panama and Mexico.

What Saka really needed this summer was a few months off. He will still get three weeks to wind down once the World Cup is over, but there have to fears about his achilles long-term right now.

Arsenal simply have to sign more quality and depth in attack this summer as a result.

Arsenal exploring move for big-money winger

Even before Saka’s achilles flair up, Mikel Arteta and Co needed to bring one or two new wingers to the Emirates Stadium.

They did, of course, sign Noni Madueke a year ago and truthfully, despite some inconsistent performances, he was invaluable as Saka managed his injury problems.

Supporters want additional quality though, players with more consistency, and in the shape of Morgan Rogers they could find that.

Rogers is one of two leading targets to strengthen out wide this summer but Aston Villa are demanding an earth shattering £130m fee to part company with the England international. At that price, he will be unobtainable.

As a result, Andrea Berta is also working on a deal to sign Bradley Barcola from PSG. He will cost the earth too but will be a tad cheaper. It’s been revealed it could take as much as £116m to extract him from Paris.

The latest on their pursuit of the Frenchman comes from The Daily Mail who report that with Leandro Trossard edging closer to the exit door, they are ramping up their pursuit of Barcola.

It is noted that, amid interest from Liverpool and Arsenal, the player is open to listening to their proposals.

The Gunners would appear to be more advanced on the player, sending a delegation to the USA to not just watch the winger in action against Sweden but to also speak with his camp about a potential transfer.

How Bradley Barcola compares to Bukayo Saka

Since Arteta became Arsenal manager, no player has been more important to him than Saka. He has played the most games (292), scored the most (78) and assisted the most goals (77) than any other teammate.

However, as the Gunners ended over two decades without a Premier League trophy, the England man struggled for consistency. Saka still netted 11 times and assisted nine but for what we have been used to, he was below par.

The hope will be that next season, he can get back to his best. While some of the explosiveness has gone, he is still one of the best wide players in Europe. He can take players on, he can create at will and he’s still clinical in front of goal.

However, at this moment in time, it would be hard to dispute that Barcola isn’t the better player. For the two time Champions League wingers, the 23-year-old has been simply electric.

In 2024/25, the French superstar scored 21 goals and supplied a further 21 for his colleagues. That betters any season Saka has enjoyed at Arsenal. His best seasonal return was in 2023/24 when the 24-year-old found the net on 20 occasions and provided 14 assists.

In recent times, Barcola has been more menacing and the stats tell us everything.

When it comes to goalscoring, the PSG wide man is simply on another level to Saka, particularly over the last year. He takes more shots and crucially, is involved in more big chances per 90 minutes.

From a creative standpoint – Saka’s best attribute – Barcola also reigns supreme. Across 2025/26, the former Lyon prodigy produced more progressive passes and pulled off more successful dribbles. They registered an identical tally of expected assists from open play.

An electrifying talent, there is a reason that Como scout Ben Mattinson described him as “one of the best left-wingers in Europe” and why journalist Robin Bairner called him “the next Mbappe”. There are very few better wide players out there at the moment. Barcola is not just a more prolific goalscorer but he’s also quicker and more explosive.

For Saka, the fortunate thing is that they would likely play on opposing wings and that is something that Arsenal supporters can get very excited about if a transfer goes through.