Bukayo Saka has declared he is willing to “gamble” on his fitness as England prepare for their World Cup campaign. The Arsenal winger, who is poised to earn his 50th cap against Croatia in the Group opener on Wednesday, has been battling an Achilles problem.
The injury kept Saka out of England’s March camp and forced him to push through the pain barrier during Arsenal‘s title run-in, casting serious doubts over his availability for this summer’s tournament. However, Saka is determined to feature from the start, which would hand Thomas Tuchel a massive boost ahead of England’s World Cup bid. Saka, 24, said: “As players, it’s the biggest gamble, especially if you’re not feeling your sharpest.
“You have the choice whether you don’t play or you put yourself out there knowing people are going to judge you the same.
“I’m happy to take the gamble. It paid off, I’d say. I’m going to continue doing that. At the end of the day, people don’t really care how you’re feeling, they expect you to deliver. But I am feeling a lot better than I did in March and I’m ready to go.
“The main focus right now is winning the World Cup. And being my best version of myself for the team.”
Saka proved instrumental in helping Arsenal clinch their first league title in 22 years and believes that taste of victory has given his confidence a significant lift.
He said: “Knowing what it takes to win is important and it gives you more belief. It gives you more confidence and freedom.
“When you have that success and you taste it, you want to do it again, and you can go two ways, but when I speak for myself, I’d say it’s definitely feeling that I want to do it again and it gives me even more hunger.”
England manager Tuchel has acknowledged that Saka will be unable to play every match from start to finish, yet the Arsenal winger insists he is perfectly content sharing the role with club colleague Noni Madueke.
Saka, who is also eagerly anticipating the milestone of reaching 50 caps, went on to say: “Noni is like my brother and we enjoy competing and playing together. Not many players have done that, especially so young. So it’s proud for me.”