Bukayo Saka explains how David Luiz has 'done so much' for his Arsenal career

Arsenal academy sensation Bukayo Saka has pinpointed former Gunners central defender David Luiz as the player that has helped him the most in his career so far.

It has felt like the 20-year-old has carried the club on his back at times since his emergence into the first-team fold under previous manager Unai Emery.

His game has only gone from strength to strength under the guidance of current boss Mikel Arteta, with Saka taking home Arsenal's player of the year award for the 2020/21 campaign.

Though the limelight has shifted in recent weeks to a fellow Hale End graduate in Emile Smith Rowe, it is a testament to Saka's ability that he is an Arsenal and England regular before he's even turned 21 years of age.

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Saka is currently surrounded by swathes of talent in the current Arsenal set-up including the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and club-record signing Nicolas Pepe.

However, the Ealing-born attacker has given the honour of 'most helpful teammate' he has played with to someone no longer residing in north London.

Speaking to SportBIBLE, Saka was asked which player has been the most helpful throughout his career - still in its relative infancy despite his swathes of experience.

The Emirates hero replied: "I've had a lot of help from a lot of different players but I would say probably the biggest impact - probably David Luiz.

"He has done the most for me in my career, to go into the first team was obviously not always the easiest experience but, and I think if you say this to all of the young players at Arsenal, [they'd say] David done so much.

"He went out of his way to do a lot for us - advice on and off the pitch, yeah he was a really good guy but there has been loads of other players at Arsenal of course, but I'd probably say David."

The Gunners have enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence after their disastrous start to the season, though their 10-game unbeaten run came to an end in their last outing against a rampant Liverpool side.

In the same interview, Saka was full of praise for his manager - even going as far as dubbing him a genius.

Asked to describe Arteta's management style, Saka replied: "Tactically, he is quite a genius I would say, tactically he is really good at outsmarting other teams.

"He always knows how is best to get out in terms of playing out from the back and how to best use the press system."