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England star Bukayo Saka is riding high in the Premier League with top-of-the-table Arsenal but it has not always been a smooth sail for the gifted Nigerian-English star.
This season the winger, from London, has clocked up an impressive goals haul and assists for both club and country.
But the 21-year-old forward did not always have it easy, having started life from very humble beginnings.
Saka grew up in modest circumstances just five miles from Wembley where he lived with his Nigerian parents and siblings.
The family stayed in a small two-storey semi-detached home in Greenford, in the borough of Ealing, London.
From the age of three he was playing football on a communal green with his father Yomi and older brother Abayomi every night.
As a youngster he played for his local club Greenford Celtic until he was scouted by Arsenal at age seven.
His parents made many sacrifices as he flew through the ranks, with his mother Adenike and father working menial jobs to pay the bills while ferrying him to football in the evenings and on weekends.
He started his academic life at Edward Betham of E Primary School, where his sporting prowess also showed.
As a boy, he went to Edward Betham C of E Primary School and then Greenford High School, duly leaving the latter in the summer of 2018 with four A’s and three A’s in his GCSEs.
The footballer’s teachers, at the time, described him as ‘the humble boy who achieved his dreams as well as a first-class education’.
The devout Christian started his day with a prayer, which read: ‘Heavenly Father, you have given this new day to me, help me to make it one that pleases you by doing my best in everything. Amen.’
His head teacher Caroline Chamberlain told The Times he was an ‘all rounder’ and a ‘really lovely, conscientious, hardworking boy.’
After leaving school he continued to climb the ranks at Arsenal’s academy and broke into the first team during the 2019 / 2020 campaign.
The following year he started to play more regularly for the Gunners, scoring five goals and getting three assists in 32 appearances.
After heartbreak at Euro 2020, he had a very impressive domestic season with Arsenal, bagging 11 goals and seven assists across the year.
On why he wanted to play for England ahead of Nigeria, he said: ‘My whole family has been in England like forever. When I grew up all my documents stated that I am English, hopefully Nigerian people will understand.’
-asnow.info
