Arsenal have produced their fair share of wonderful talents over the previous 25 years.

The likes of Ashley Cole, who went on to become arguably England’s finest left-back of modern times, Jack Wilshere, and Serge Gnabry have all come through the ranks at Hale End in recent times and enjoyed success either at the Gunners or elsewhere.

Recently, Mikel Arteta has been developing and creating an accessible pathway for youngsters thriving in the academy which will allow them to gain the recognition they deserve and have an opportunity to gain first-team football.

This has given players like Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun the chance to showcase their talents, and the Spaniard must be applauded for his long-term vision.

However, perhaps the finest player to emerge from Hale End in recent years is Bukayo Saka, with the 21-year-old already accumulating more than 150 senior appearances for the north London club and has emerged as not only one of the best players at the club but also in the Premier League, as evident by his form in the current campaign.

Across 20 league appearances this term, Saka has achieved a mesmerising Sofascore rating of 7.29/10, not only ranking him as the third-best performer in the Gunners' squad but also as the 12th-best in the league as a whole, proving his class.

With 14 goal contributions (seven goals and seven assists) along with creating three big chances, making 2.4 key passes per match and taking 2.1 shots per game, its no wonder that Arsenal are currently five points clear at the top of the table, and the winger hasn’t even hit his peak yet.

His performances of late has seen the player valued at a staggering €110m (£98.5m) by the CIES Football Observatory, and it certainly appears that Arteta has hit the jackpot on the talented Englishman. Although he would love for the youngster to remain at Arsenal and build a team around the him, there are already potential suitors lining up, with Manchester City recently being linked with a move for Saka.

His career could have been at a crossroads at the beginning of the 2021/22 campaign after he missed a penalty in England’s shoot-out defeat to Italy in the final of Euro 2020.

However, he rebounded superbly and Arteta had nothing but praise for the youngster, saying: “That was a big boost for him, to realise: 'in difficult moments, these people are really going to give me support' and the club did the same as his team-mates. Then it is about giving him that space. At his age what he is doing is phenomenal."

If Arsenal manage to win the league this season and qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17, that could be a major boost in their hopes of keeping Saka, a player on whom the club hit the jackpot by granting him a first-team passageway and offering him a platform on which to excel.