Bukayo Saka: The Time Is Now (2026) Movie Script
[man] Saka is our talisman.
He's the one that makes us tick
going forward.
[man 2] You can see that he is not a man.
He is the man.
[man 3] He has been a top-class pro
for at least half a decade.
-[man 4] Playmaker...
-[man 5] Making him captain...
-[man 4] ...goal scorer...
-[man 5] ...was an astute move...
[man 4] ...and Starboy.
[man 6] I love Bukayo Saka. However,
I think the form has dipped a little bit.
[man 7] Within that half a decade,
he's had basically no success.
-[man 8] His numbers aren't great.
-[man 9] He hasn't been that good.
[man 10] He's been injured so many times.
[man 11] He just hasn't answered
the Champions League question.
[commentator] Twenty-two years
since they won
a Premier League title,
it's in their grasp.
[man 12] I don't even see a leader
on the pitch for Arsenal.
[man 13] A goal or assist
is expected every single game.
[man 14] He's been tremendous.
[man 15] There's not much
we can ask of the kid.
[man 16] It all falls on his shoulders
at the moment.
[commentator 2] Saka!
[Saka] I've been so close to the glory
and success and the trophies...
for club and for country.
I need to find that next level.
Thierry Henry,
one of the best players to ever play.
He's reached the levels
that I still dream of doing.
[Tolami Benson] He has a lot of dreams,
big dreams.
That boy thinks he can fit
five lifetimes into one.
One thing that his dad taught him
was be the best at absolutely
every avenue you take up space in.
So the pressure he puts on himself
and the world and everything he does,
I could never pretend to understand.
He's actually quite vulnerable.
Henry recognises that.
He's able to get through
and have conversations
with Bukayo that no one else can have.
He means a lot.
He's been around for ages now.
I feel like maybe he's been...
As long as I have been around.
You understand each other,
they see each other.
[crowd cheering]
It's like a mirror.
They could talk for hours and hours.
And every time, it's like some deep,
profound experience.
It's really good for him.
[Saka] Just knowing where I came from...
knowing what it took,
my dream is to have a legacy,
to win titles,
make history.
I'll never get this moment again.
[people chattering indistinctly]
[laughs] Look at this guy.
Who are you waiting for?
-For you.
-Oh, really?
[laughs]
[Henry] You know Jollof rice?
Do you know where it's from? Senegal.
[Saka] Nah, let's not have
this conversation, man.
[Henry] It is from Senegal.
-How do you know that though?
-You need to know your stuff.
No, but how do you know that for sure?
Jollof is Wolof word.
Wolof, that's what they speak in Senegal.
-Yeah?
-Mmm-hmm.
-Educate...
-You need to know that. I mean,
-it's the same rice, beans, plantain.
-Yeah...
Same as Caribbean food.
Is that your favourite? Caribbean?
When it comes to food, nothing is above
my mum's food.
It brings memories back.
-That's the way it was.
-Yeah.
[exclaims]
-[waiter] There we go.
-Yeah!
Mmm.
[Henry] I grew up with my mum.
My dad was different.
My dad was more the discipline
that you need to have in order to reach
the level that... I never expected
I was going to reach.
Like, he was harsh in that way.
-Yeah.
-And for me, praising my dad
was way more difficult than any guys
that was going to talk to me.
My dad was the same, very demanding.
-[chuckles]
-Pushing you every day, every day.
-But what does he say now?
-Now?
Yes.
If I have a game and I had one action
where he thought I could have do better,
he would tell me. "B, blah-blah."
He won't speak about anything else.
-Really?
-"When you got there,
"why didn't you fake him? And then
he will slide, and then you score."
'Cause he hates it.
The most thing he hates
is when I shoot, and it gets blocked.
[commentator] And it's another
marvellous save by Donnarumma!
[Saka] He complains
when I get kicked a lot.
"If he kicks you,
"you have to smash him back."
-And I'm like, "Listen--"
-That won't work.
-It don't work like that.
-Back in the days, maybe,
-but not any more.
-It don't work like that. He said, "Yeah."
Every time it happens,
I think of him straightaway.
[Henry] I always used to go like,
"Wait, hang on a minute."
Listen, my dad was difficult.
But look at where you are.
You play for France.
And the Arsenal.
What was difficult was before technically.
So, you should embrace that people
are asking you to do more stuff.
I think it's the other way around though.
So for example,
once you became the France,
Arsenal top scorer,
Premier League,
I think it's more difficult
to maintain that than to reach that.
With the pressures
and the expectations and--
-Yeah, for sure.
-Or you don't agree?
Yeah, I feel like
you had the same situation.
You had the expectation, France.
[Henry] Yeah, it was kind of weird
because the expectation of '98,
we had none.
You know, when you have journalists
and ex-players that give the lists?
-Yeah.
-I was in none.
-You wasn't in the "maybe"?
-None. Nobody saw me going.
It was kind of weird
because you going to the under 17,
under 18, under 19,
and you pass the stadium.
I'm like,
"I hope I can have some tickets."
[inaudible]
[Saka] That was your first World Cup,
-and you won?
-Yes.
Hey, that's crazy.
The impact that it had
on the French people.
-Yeah.
-And seeing people going,
more than a million
on the Champs-lyses--
-You said, a million people?
-Yeah, it was way more.
Some people said that the last time
the Champs-lyses were like that
was for the liberation of Paris.
[people cheering]
[Henry] Suddenly, that's when
the expectation kicked in for me.
Because we were not expected to win it.
-Okay, I understand it, yeah.
-If you know what I mean.
And suddenly, now you put the cup back
and, "Let's win it again."
[commentator 1] France nil, Senegal one.
And then, "Let's win it again."
[commentator 2] Italy
are champions of the world.
And then, "Let's win it again."
[commentator 3] But South Africa
have beaten France today...
Then you never win one again.
Along the way,
it becomes the norm, normality,
that you reach a level
where you're numb to happiness.
It's never enough.
I've always wanted to know actually,
I never asked before.
[Saka] Hmm?
So obviously, you could have been
sitting with me right now with two Euros.
Two Euros, one World Cup, yeah.
-Two finals? Euros?
-Yeah, two finals, man.
And you have none.
I'm not having a go.
I'm just saying how do you go
back now in the tournament
thinking, "We need to win something"?
-How do you go in your head knowing--
-Mmm-hmm.
what it is to play for England
and the pressure of the press?
How do you do that?
When you put the England shirt on,
there's an expectation already, you know?
You have to win, whether it's a friendly.
You can't win 1-0.
Otherwise, they kill you.
And especially, when people
speak about the Euro stuff
and what happened the last time
I took a penalty, that adds to it.
It's heavy.
[interviewer] Another amazing moment
in an incredible year.
What's it like to get
your first England call-up?
When I landed, I turned off
aeroplane mode and I'd just seen a text.
"We're happy to confirm that you've been
selected for the England national team."
And I was staring at it
for five minutes in shock.
I'm so, so happy, you know?
It's an honour to be called-up for England
'cause I've been dreaming of this moment,
so I'm so happy.
My family's so happy and we just can't
put into words how happy we are.
The growth around a young player now,
if they're playing in top flight,
is difficult to prepare them for
until they're living it.
When I first met Bukayo,
he was probably around 14.
I was working for Arsenal at the time.
Everyone was just excited about this
young talent that was in the academy.
He was a very inquisitive, kind soul,
and seemed very sure of himself
and confident.
Still, a very soft, gentle human being.
And then, he took the step
into the first team.
[Saka mumbling]
[commentator] It's a wonderful goal
from the teenager, Bukayo Saka.
[James] You can see the exposure
building and building.
It's hard for people to understand
unless they're living it.
I just wanted to protect him
from the parts of the industry
that are quite challenging.
[commentator] There's Saka again!
The Starboy continues to shine!
[James] Moving into the Euros,
I knew that if he played well,
his whole world changes that summer.
This is Kane.
[Saka] It's not just playing for my club,
you know, it's the whole country.
[commentator] It might fall for Saka!
A first international goal
at senior level for Bukayo Saka!
England had a chance to win the Euros.
We haven't won it before.
And I almost feel like a responsibility
to give back
all the faith,
all the trust that they've given me.
[commentator] Saka. Trying to stop him
from doing so. Sterling is in.
That's how you remember Bukayo Saka!
But no one can predict the outcome
that we had of the final.
[commentator] The trophy will be decided
via penalty shootout
for the first time, in fact, since 1976.
The penalty, people always talk, like,
"I would have done this."
No, you wouldn't.
You wouldn't 'cause you've never
been in that situation.
Walking that walk.
Alone.
[whistle blows]
[crowd cheers]
[crowd cheers]
[commentator] And Pickford saves!
[Henry] If you've never taken a penalty
in your life,
just don't talk, please.
Because you guys don't know what it is.
[commentator] 2-2 after three.
[Henry] You don't know
what it can do to your career.
[commentator] Pickford is down
to stop him!
[Henry] And also what it can do
to your mind.
[commentator] Italy ahead for the moment.
But now it's the teenager,
Bukayo Saka, one of the youngest players
ever to play in a European Championship.
He's got to score here
to keep England alive.
[Saka] Walking up,
I believed I was gonna score, you know?
You have that confidence in yourself,
otherwise you wouldn't even grab the ball
or say that you're going
to take the penalty.
If I remember,
I was at home in the kitchen.
When you got up to take it,
I was like, "No!"
And I saw myself getting up to take it
against Italy in the quarter-final.
And I remember me being 20.
I don't remember
what was happening in the stadium.
Like, I blacked out.
-I knew where I was going to take it...
-Yeah.
...and I wasn't going to change.
[cheering]
All I know is, when the ball went in,
I heard, "Yeah!"
-Yeah. Yeah.
-That's what I remember.
When I saw you going there...
even if I didn't know you
like that personally...
all I'm thinking...
like, "Please don't miss it.
"Please don't miss it."
[commentator] And he doesn't!
And Italy are champions of Europe.
[commentator] It's poor Bukayo Saka
who misses the crucial one.
This one's going to sting for a while.
[fans groaning]
[man shouts angrily]
[Saka] That was probably the lowest
I've ever felt.
That moment, it changed me.
You go back in the dressing room,
and you can't...
Like, your head is down
and you can't look at...
-You can't look at, yeah.
-...at people,
-that's the worst feeling ever.
-Yeah.
You know how it's a major tournament?
You're there for six weeks.
It's intense, the amount of travelling,
preparation, training sessions.
And then...
it's like, "Guys, like, I'm sorry, man."
[Henry] We're here as a team.
You know, you win together.
But unfortunately, when you lose...
sometime you lose alone.
In that certain moment,
it was tough to see, like,
how you would put an amend to this,
how we would come back from this.
I knew he was a very strong kid.
But if he fails to recover mentally,
he's probably gonna have to retire,
probably can't play any more.
I just felt an immense sadness
because I knew
that it would come with abuse.
[newsreader] Three players
who missed penalty kicks
in a sudden-death shootout,
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho
and Bukayo Saka, were blasted
with racist abuse online after the game.
[Benson] He didn't deserve that.
[Saka] I was aware of what was going on.
And all the negativity, hate, racism.
I didn't go out of my way to read it.
But it would come up.
It still affected me.
[Henry] I'm looking at what's happening,
and I didn't have any doubt
how he was feeling.
You're asking the Black guy
what does he think about it.
Do I need to tell you, really?
You take it as a normality,
that's how it is.
You raise above it. Why do we have
to raise above it since we're young?
You know, you miss a penalty,
and what does the colour of your skin
have to do with anything in that?
So I reached out
because I could relate properly.
In the moment, for me,
when I saw your name,
'cause obviously,
a lot of people message me, message me,
when I saw your name,
it was like a little, you know,
buzz for me, you know?
Because you didn't need
to reach out to me, you know?
I was just like, "Wow, man."
And it's not just a message,
like a token message, like, "Head up."
You know, it was what you said.
[incoming message tone]
[reading] "You're already a winner
for stepping up.
"That was the hardest thing to do,
to put yourself out there.
"Not everyone is going to do that."
I went home and I had a lot
of my family around me.
Lifted me back up to my feet and helped me
get going again. That helped me so much.
[Mrs Saka on recording] Great players
have lost penalty before.
It's about how they overcame it,
and let the noise go down,
and then you can pick yourself up.
I won in one hour and flippin' 200.
Tell them how happy you are.
'Cause do you know
how much I worked for this?
Oh, my God!
I don't know. We were very young in life.
He was 17. I was 17, turning 18.
Everything around us shifted very quickly.
We've just, I guess,
maintained each other,
and protected each other,
and kept each other grounded.
He was that young child
that only wants to play football.
But I think now it's much more than that.
He wants to be in leadership roles.
He wants to take up
more space in football.
He wants to do so much more.
I think that's what concerns me sometimes.
Like, there'll be a point where,
God forbid, but you burn out,
like, he puts a lot of pressure
on himself all the time.
Kind of had to grow into this person
that wasn't seeing life
so innocent any more.
[Mr Saka] When you find your purpose,
you become a leader.
So he may seem like he's under pressure,
but that's what leaders do.
They can't relax.
So, it's always going
to be like that for him.
[Henry] This is why the great champions
are lunatics.
They're crazy because they will do
anything to not fail again.
They remember every single failure.
You see the expectation on his back,
and you see how he's dying to win.
It is personal.
He wants to give it not only, you know,
to the team, himself, but to the people.
[Saka] I think during the season,
like, I'm just so wired,
so locked in.
Where I find my joy
is more through the people,
my family, my fiance and my friends.
Especially in the summer,
you know, when you get to switch off.
[Benson] When I see he's a bit drained,
we know when to retreat.
We just have a little fort,
and we just stay in there.
Our bubble,
it's literally just friends,
family and us.
He's had the same friends for years.
Like, he has amazing friends.
[Williams] My first memory of him
was probably in the school playground
back in the Edward Betham days.
Playing football, causing havoc.
[chuckles]
He was never flashy, he always kept
his circle really small, humble.
It's no surprise where he is today.
I think people will think
he's a quiet person.
I thought the same thing,
I'm not gonna lie,
until I started to speak to him.
I could tell that straightaway
that this would be a good friend of mine.
He has that personality where he can
make anyone feel comfortable.
With football sometimes,
it can take over your life.
If you're not mentally prepared for it,
it can damage you.
It's important because you need
to have people that understand you
and don't just see you in the limelight.
They see you for who you really are.
That's one of the best parts
of being his friend, is, like,
when you can kind of just sweep football
to the side just for that afternoon.
[Benson] People probably have
in their head
that we're in the top restaurant,
getting our toes massaged or something.
I don't know. Like everything you think
that a seven-year old boy does,
that's what we do together.
We play LEGO,
we walk our dogs,
watch Marvel, we play Switch.
[Saka] You need to get your head
in the game.
Bro, come on, bro.
-[man exclaims]
-[whoops]
[Konsa] We've got the same banter,
same humour.
He's funny.
[ringing tone]
Yo.
[Konsa] Love you too.
You unsetting it.
I'm done, finished.
-You told them the truth?
-Of course.
Not the whole truth,
but yeah, I told them the truth.
-Good, good, good.
-Told them what they needed to know.
Because you're taking it serious, serious.
Was he doing the media training?
Or was it... All of that?
I was just being myself,
living my truth, being myself?
-Being yourself?
-Yeah, bro.
[Benson] I think he's just a kind soul.
He has a sweet heart.
And he means it, he's not a fake.
And I think that he just wants to bless
as many people as he can in his lifetime.
When you have someone so strong
and so primed
to try and give themselves
to so many different pots,
inside it, like, you know they're probably
quite vulnerable, and you know that
they've not given enough to themselves,
like they're giving to so many pots,
but they've never stopped
to give to themselves.
[Henry] Playing well,
it's different than scoring goals.
Is it heavy to carry sometimes?
Like, you see, like, it's an hour.
Thirty minutes to go,
you're like,
"Well, I still didn't score." Like...
-Yeah.
-You don't play the same way.
-Yeah.
-Sometimes you rush stuff.
-Yeah.
-Because you didn't touch the ball
-for a very long time.
-I understand.
I feel I have a role,
to make the difference, you know?
Whether it's delivering a goal,
delivering an assist.
-Okay, but--
-It's not enough to just track back
and hold the ball or whatever.
-It's not enough.
-I know. I was the same.
But don't be too harsh...
-If I... Let me ask you the flip question.
-Yes.
Nine games, you were
unbelievable defensively.
Holding the ball up,
bringing your teammates into play,
but you didn't score
in all the nine games.
You only scored in one out of the ten.
Would you be satisfied
and be like, "Okay, like--"
-I was never satisfied.
-You understand what I'm saying?
-I know, but--
-You know what we're judged on
-as attackers?
-Of course,
even more so now people
are getting judged on stats.
-That plays in your head as well.
-I'm talking about you and your brain.
-I defended, I helped--
-But for you, it's not enough.
-It's not enough.
-I know, but it does matter.
You say this,
but I feel like one of your biggest
weapons and your superpowers
was, like, your mentality
that it wasn't enough.
How much do you feel
like the balance works? Like--
Well, I don't know.
This is what I'm telling you.
-Try it, because I didn't do it.
-Okay.
I wasn't programmed for that.
I was programmed to think
about what I haven't done.
I was rogue when I was young.
-I was just running at people.
-Yeah.
Fast and furious.
For me, in my mind, this is what you need
to have in order to be winning.
But I was still upset with life.
That's one of the thing
that I didn't know, what makes me happy.
If you don't allow yourself
to be happy about something,
it brings you places in your head
where you don't see any lights.
I wasn't equipped enough
to understand that
when I was younger. And so I said,
"Try to be happy
and see the big picture here.
-"Not just an image."
-No, I understand
-exactly you're saying.
-Just to you.
A lot of times, I struggle to find
happiness and satisfaction because...
like you, I'm always thinking about what
I haven't done, what I need to do next.
I haven't achieved
anything yet for Arsenal.
-But why the joy has to go away?
-I don't know.
For me, I feel a responsibility to...
-Yeah, but--
-...give back to the club, how much
they've put into me, the fans,
you know, the staff, the trust.
If I said to you, let's say, 15 years ago,
that you would have been
in your situation,
what do you think the little Bukayo
would say to the Bukayo now?
[Saka] This is my home, man.
I can just remember the kid in me
just up and down these high streets.
I think when I was in primary school,
-I used to wear a football kit.
-[Henry] Really?
Arsenal, Newcastle,
-Man United...
-Any...
Any kit?
I had every kit, man.
I haven't been back since I left.
Seven years now.
Which one is it?
This one. Straight down.
That's the way.
Oh, my days, man!
Look, the sign, "no ball games".
[chuckles] We used to play football
all day.
I can't believe this.
We used to play me versus
my brother and my dad.
But they were both older than me,
stronger than me, bigger than me.
That's what drove me,
to try and be better than them.
We weren't going inside until I won.
[Mr Saka] Sometimes we play six hours.
If he doesn't win, we don't go in.
Kicks the ball everywhere.
He wants to play football all the time.
[Williams] If he wasn't playing football
in his back garden,
we'd be out in the front
with some of the other neighbours
in that small little close.
That patch of grass was quite dangerous
because cars used to end up
getting hit with footballs,
with stray footballs.
[Mr Saka] Age five, six,
Bukayo was kicking the ball very hard,
it was going to smash all the windows.
My mum would be cooking there.
The ball smashed through that.
[imitates Mrs Saka exclaiming]
Bap, bap, bap, all the time.
[Henry] She didn't say anything?
She was so annoyed, but I was gonna do it
again and again and again.
He was only seven, I took him
to that back garden, Greenford Celtic
and the coach said
he's gonna be part of the A team.
I remember some of the players appearing,
telling me, "I see this boy
play in Premier League."
[man] He's always been Bukayo
from when I was seven until today.
We were in the academy at the same time.
I just remember this kid that just kept
shooting and shooting, and...
Yeah, he was an exceptional player.
When we were given tickets
to go watch Arsenal at the Emirates,
they'd sit all the young players
behind the first team bench.
You're just, like, starstruck.
[Saka] I remember just screaming at Chuba,
'cause he came from the academy.
There was, like, three of us,
all screaming for his shirt.
And then he took it off, threw the shirt.
And I swear, that was one
of the best days of my life as a kid.
Just, like, complete joy.
We saw ourselves in him.
[Okonkwo] You know, you see these players
doing your dream.
And, you know, I think that's the moment
where you're thinking
what if you could?
But for my dad, it was a must
that I was going to be
a professional player.
That's the first thing
he said when he saw me.
He didn't say I was ugly or beautiful
-or my forehead was too big.
-[Saka laughs]
He just said, "This guy is going
to be a good football player."
That's what he said.
Because my dad loves football.
So, I guess because he didn't do it,
you know, like, he was like,
"Oh, the next best thing is you doing it."
You know, my dad was so big on me
and my brother being successes,
he wanted me to be a football player,
but he wanted me to be who I wanted to be.
[Mr Saka] He thought to play football
at a very high level.
Arsenal was the best.
It was very tough.
Getting to Arsenal from where we live
was about two or three hours.
I'd leave everything that I did
to take him training,
even when I was tired or ill.
They play us against older boys.
Probably four years older.
So he would look at me
for encouragement to the pitch,
I'd say, "Son, anything happens there,
I'm jumping to the pitch.
"I'm here. Go ahead and play."
You know, they really, really, really
put their lives to the side,
taking me to football.
They would come back, food would be ready.
I felt like they were almost in it
with me, you know?
Like, they were almost...
If they could kick the ball with me,
they would do it.
It just brings back the memories,
you know?
So many memories.
[reading] "Sorry, Mum, if it's late.
"But Jollof rice, plantain
and chicken would be nice."
And she said, "Too late for Jollof rice.
"I have made white rice
with beans, pepper stew,
"but not too spicy, Efo and chicken."
And I just replied,
"Speak in the morning."
[laughs]
-Not even "thank you," nothing.
-Nothing!
Hey, Mum, I'm sorry, man,
that's poor from me.
[Mrs Saka] I would send a message
checking on him in the morning
or in the afternoon,
-"How's your day been?"
-[message tone]
I find a passage in the Bible
to just share with him,
to support him, to encourage him.
God is the only one who is not limited
in what he can do.
And what he cannot do does not exist.
-So believe.
-[ringing tone]
[Mrs Saka] Hello?
Hello. Remember this bike?
Yeah, your bike.
It's still here.
Oh, my God. They kept it.
Look at the garden.
The garden is small now.
Yeah, it's so small now.
How is the kitchen?
The kitchen?
-Yeah.
-So it's all gone?
She fed the family well.
My dad, as well, used to work, work, work.
Me and my brother,
we didn't really understand.
To living life, man.
How you live life as a kid, man,
no worries,
no stresses, just free.
You realised, my team's so good,
but only a few of us are gonna make it.
And the coaches,
they made that clear to us.
And that's when I said in my head,
"I really want it to be me."
[Mr Saka] I said, "Bukayo,
if you really want to play
with the very first team,
"you have to be the best at what you do."
He said, "Daddy, I'm gonna be the best."
It was the 1st of January, and it meant
a lot to us, meant a lot to him.
He came on, and he didn't
really touch the ball at all.
While others were laughing
and saying he didn't touch the ball,
we saw bigger and better things for him,
and that was the beginning.
[Saka] Every time you drive up,
as soon as I see the stadium,
I get this joy or this buzz, you know?
When I see the fans all together
outside the stadium,
you know, it's match day, man.
It's game time.
Highbury, you go down Avenell Road,
-you see everybody there.
-Yeah. All the fans?
-Hey! That was a good!
-That must've been top, man.
-That's top.
-Yeah, that was good.
-Yeah.
-That was my stadium.
Playing there was just like,
I always have the feeling
that it is gonna be okay.
Arsenal lead 3-2.
Thierry Henry gets another one.
-That was good, man.
-It's amazing, man.
It's amazing.
Do you miss that a bit? Like--
-I miss competing.
-Yeah. I miss--
I miss playing.
I miss the competition side of it.
The battle.
[Henry] I love when I'm challenged,
makes me better.
[Saka] So when you won
the Premier League the first time...
what did you do after?
Nothing.
Nothing?
So you're telling me
you won the league and--
What do you do? Go where?
-Well, I mean--
-I'm not everybody.
I'm just saying that I didn't go out.
I didn't enjoy it.
[Saka] But thinking about all of that
that we've discussed, man,
where did you find joy?
[Henry] Pleasing my dad
and pleasing my teammates
was my source of happiness, I guess.
What about yours?
[Saka] I don't know.
Maybe this is not enough.
But when I was a kid, you know,
that garden was the best in the world.
That was like my Emirates.
As you grew up,
you know, the world naturally,
it beats all of that out of you, you know?
So this is what I'm saying.
I said that about the game, also.
When you were young,
you were seeing your life.
You were imagining stuff.
So you were using more
your brain than your eyes.
For me, the best goal that you can score
is the one that you saw
before in your head,
and then you execute it.
Only one possibility
where the field is limitless.
That's a different approach
to play the game.
So first and foremost,
freedom is key to be able to do that.
If you look at the situation
with your eyes, you see 10 people.
You're like, you don't dare go in.
Like, there's no way I can score.
Like, you're killing the creativity.
But now, if you start to look
at the game with your brain,
how can I pass you?
You know, how can I beat you guys?
You're not saying to yourself,
"I cannot do it."
I think that's what makes people
appreciate you and respect you,
because there's some of the things
you were trying to do...
Even that goal you scored
when you flicked up, volleyed it.
-Who even tries that?
-I mean--
You know what I'm saying?
You do create your own freedom
like, you know,
you're doing something that you love.
But because of the noise outside
and in your head,
you lose the connection
of our inner child.
And I always say the best conversation
that you can have is you and yourself.
Are you gonna be honest with yourself?
This guy has a lot to tell you...
on how it is now.
[Saka] Ah! Emirates.
My guy, it's not everyday
Thierry Henry is in town, man.
[Henry] Come on, man.
They've come for you, not for me.
[Saka] Nah, don't be silly, man.
[Henry] Do you actually remember
the first time you walked in here?
[Saka] I remember, man.
I came for a stadium tour.
I remember taking a picture
with all the players' shirts
that were here at the time.
I believe it was there, right there.
So happy, so proud to be here.
That was the closest I've ever been
to any professional footballer.
Now I sit in that changing room,
and sometimes kids are there
and they take pictures with my shirt.
It's just surreal
when you think about where you are.
But I don't like doing it too much,
you know, because I don't like feeling
comfortable and feeling too satisfied.
Let's head out. I don't know the way.
[Saka] You know the way.
You know this place.
It's just surreal when you think about
some of the moments I've had here.
Growing up,
Ronaldo was one of my favourite players.
There was one time I had to mark him
from a corner, it was crazy.
I had no chance.
Then he jumped
and he was almost in the sky.
[laughs] I had to just lock in, you know?
'Cause you get in your mind
and you just start thinking.
I used to watch this guy,
that was where I wanted to be.
And it's just knowing,
like, where I came from,
and now I'm on the pitch.
[crowd cheering]
-[Henry] What number? Seven?
-[Saka] Box seven.
When I score,
I look up there to my family,
see their faces with full of pride for me.
Beautiful, man.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
We saw your little garden.
Now, this is your big garden.
-"Big garden"?
-It is.
[laughs]
Pretty much, yeah.
You can see the difference in the pitch.
[Henry] When you're young,
everything is positive.
You had grass.
I grew up playing on concrete and clay.
-And you was more than happy with it?
-What?
-Yeah.
-Sliding on my knees.
-The knee slide?
-On clay?
-Yeah!
-What?
When you're young.
-Nah, that's horrible, man.
-Yeah, but the day after,
you go and play again.
-Of course, of course.
-That's what I'm saying.
It's true.
Yeah, nothing would have
stopped you at that time.
-Nothing would have stopped you to play.
-No, nothing.
But now,
to play a football game,
everything has to be perfect.
-Yeah, it's changed a lot.
-Yeah.
But I guess when you're that age,
you don't really know,
like, what comes with being
a professional footballer, you know?
You won everything there is to win.
[Henry] "We" won everything.
[Saka] It's special, man.
When I sit here,
you know, after my career,
I want to leave a legacy,
a legacy that I can be proud of,
and that's nothing less than winning
all the trophies that I can.
[man 1] I don't even see a leader
on the pitch for Arsenal.
[Saka] No, losing is not...
It's not in the plan.
[man 2] It all falls on his shoulders
at the moment.
[Saka] But it's in my head.
-[man 3] He's been injured so many times.
-[man 4] That's non-negotiable...
[man 5] I think the form
has dipped a little bit.
[Saka] I'm always thinking about what
I haven't done.
[man 6] Within that half a decade,
he's had basically no success.
-[man 7] His numbers aren't great.
-[man 8] He hasn't been that good.
[Henry] Stop.
Don't overthink it, just play.
You never know if you're gonna play
a final again.
And you never know
if you're gonna score a goal again.
The time is now.
-Because when it's over...
-Yeah?
...time is gone.
Yeah, it's true. It's true.
You know, you're writing it right now,
you're writing your history and the story.
But don't forget to be in the moment.
Sometimes you get trapped
in your competitive mind
and where you want to go,
and you forget about your own happiness
and where you are.
Yeah.
You have health.
Your other half is magnificent.
Family is outstanding.
What do you miss in life?
Which is why I asked you
that question earlier,
did you see yourself
as young Bukayo there, running?
You forget, you know, that true happiness
that you had when you're young.
Your mum, your dad makes sure
that you were happy,
but if you can be connected
to that little Bukayo, you'll be okay.
So, how do you go back
to that same place in your head?
You should have it with you all the time.
Joy.
[Mr Saka] I remember Bukayo.
He was a very young age.
We went on holidays in Nigeria,
and he was kicking football
with his brother.
He smashed a TV.
But we didn't really blame him
because that's what he does.
He used to smash windows in the house.
He smashed someone's TV.
So we started to know
that that's his purpose.
So we encouraged him.
That's why he shoots really, really hard
from a young age.
Anytime he's on a pitch,
he's like a fish in water.
We always told him
that it's only one in a million
that's going to make it
to be a football player.
So it's been very, very difficult.
[Mrs Saka] We had a sit-down with him
to say, "There will be dips,
"there will be highs.
But when it's dipping,
"what's the lesson that you need
to come out of it,
"and then you take that lesson
to rise again."
[crowd cheering]
[Mr Saka] He gets a lot of joy
from playing football...
from a very young age.
[fans singing indistinctly]
[Mr Saka] So we put so much into Bukayo.
Put so much into making sure
that he can play.
He didn't care where.
He's just really happy
that someone really found him worthy
of playing football at a very high level.
So he gives his best
every time he's on the pitch.
[crowd cheering]
[Saka] It's a dream come true.
Ever since I joined the club
at the age of eight,
I've always dreamed
of playing at the Emirates.
His full name is Oluwabukayomi,
which means "God has added to my joy."
He does it in so many ways,
to give joy to people.
-Saka!
-Saka!
[girl] He is our role model,
and he is our inspiration.
And it gives us hope that maybe one day
we can become a professional footballer.
[Mrs Saka] Understanding that name...
helps him give...
and have joy.
[Saka] I'll never get this moment again.
[stadium PA announcer
speaking indistinctly]
[Henry] I wish you all the best
at the World Cup,
apart when you play France.
I don't care about England.
What are you talking about?
I know Henry sound English,
but hey, keep it real, man.
-He's a Londoner. He's a Londoner.
-I love--
I love him, but, hey, you know
who I'm supporting in the World Cup.
[laughs]
I don't care!
[both laugh]
He can smell the chicken suya...
So what's up?
[humming]
Chop!
You used to... When you was growing up,
did you know how to swim?
-Yeah.
-Yeah?
-Yeah.
-Where did you learn, in school?
My dad threw me in the water.
No, that's crazy, man.
-But which water?
-In the Caribbean,
he put me on his back.
We did swim for maybe,
I swear, 200 metres.
-What?
-Then he threw me.
He said, "Come back to me."
That's how I learned, man.
And then you just...
I don't know what I was doing,
but I came back.
He's the one that makes us tick
going forward.
[man 2] You can see that he is not a man.
He is the man.
[man 3] He has been a top-class pro
for at least half a decade.
-[man 4] Playmaker...
-[man 5] Making him captain...
-[man 4] ...goal scorer...
-[man 5] ...was an astute move...
[man 4] ...and Starboy.
[man 6] I love Bukayo Saka. However,
I think the form has dipped a little bit.
[man 7] Within that half a decade,
he's had basically no success.
-[man 8] His numbers aren't great.
-[man 9] He hasn't been that good.
[man 10] He's been injured so many times.
[man 11] He just hasn't answered
the Champions League question.
[commentator] Twenty-two years
since they won
a Premier League title,
it's in their grasp.
[man 12] I don't even see a leader
on the pitch for Arsenal.
[man 13] A goal or assist
is expected every single game.
[man 14] He's been tremendous.
[man 15] There's not much
we can ask of the kid.
[man 16] It all falls on his shoulders
at the moment.
[commentator 2] Saka!
[Saka] I've been so close to the glory
and success and the trophies...
for club and for country.
I need to find that next level.
Thierry Henry,
one of the best players to ever play.
He's reached the levels
that I still dream of doing.
[Tolami Benson] He has a lot of dreams,
big dreams.
That boy thinks he can fit
five lifetimes into one.
One thing that his dad taught him
was be the best at absolutely
every avenue you take up space in.
So the pressure he puts on himself
and the world and everything he does,
I could never pretend to understand.
He's actually quite vulnerable.
Henry recognises that.
He's able to get through
and have conversations
with Bukayo that no one else can have.
He means a lot.
He's been around for ages now.
I feel like maybe he's been...
As long as I have been around.
You understand each other,
they see each other.
[crowd cheering]
It's like a mirror.
They could talk for hours and hours.
And every time, it's like some deep,
profound experience.
It's really good for him.
[Saka] Just knowing where I came from...
knowing what it took,
my dream is to have a legacy,
to win titles,
make history.
I'll never get this moment again.
[people chattering indistinctly]
[laughs] Look at this guy.
Who are you waiting for?
-For you.
-Oh, really?
[laughs]
[Henry] You know Jollof rice?
Do you know where it's from? Senegal.
[Saka] Nah, let's not have
this conversation, man.
[Henry] It is from Senegal.
-How do you know that though?
-You need to know your stuff.
No, but how do you know that for sure?
Jollof is Wolof word.
Wolof, that's what they speak in Senegal.
-Yeah?
-Mmm-hmm.
-Educate...
-You need to know that. I mean,
-it's the same rice, beans, plantain.
-Yeah...
Same as Caribbean food.
Is that your favourite? Caribbean?
When it comes to food, nothing is above
my mum's food.
It brings memories back.
-That's the way it was.
-Yeah.
[exclaims]
-[waiter] There we go.
-Yeah!
Mmm.
[Henry] I grew up with my mum.
My dad was different.
My dad was more the discipline
that you need to have in order to reach
the level that... I never expected
I was going to reach.
Like, he was harsh in that way.
-Yeah.
-And for me, praising my dad
was way more difficult than any guys
that was going to talk to me.
My dad was the same, very demanding.
-[chuckles]
-Pushing you every day, every day.
-But what does he say now?
-Now?
Yes.
If I have a game and I had one action
where he thought I could have do better,
he would tell me. "B, blah-blah."
He won't speak about anything else.
-Really?
-"When you got there,
"why didn't you fake him? And then
he will slide, and then you score."
'Cause he hates it.
The most thing he hates
is when I shoot, and it gets blocked.
[commentator] And it's another
marvellous save by Donnarumma!
[Saka] He complains
when I get kicked a lot.
"If he kicks you,
"you have to smash him back."
-And I'm like, "Listen--"
-That won't work.
-It don't work like that.
-Back in the days, maybe,
-but not any more.
-It don't work like that. He said, "Yeah."
Every time it happens,
I think of him straightaway.
[Henry] I always used to go like,
"Wait, hang on a minute."
Listen, my dad was difficult.
But look at where you are.
You play for France.
And the Arsenal.
What was difficult was before technically.
So, you should embrace that people
are asking you to do more stuff.
I think it's the other way around though.
So for example,
once you became the France,
Arsenal top scorer,
Premier League,
I think it's more difficult
to maintain that than to reach that.
With the pressures
and the expectations and--
-Yeah, for sure.
-Or you don't agree?
Yeah, I feel like
you had the same situation.
You had the expectation, France.
[Henry] Yeah, it was kind of weird
because the expectation of '98,
we had none.
You know, when you have journalists
and ex-players that give the lists?
-Yeah.
-I was in none.
-You wasn't in the "maybe"?
-None. Nobody saw me going.
It was kind of weird
because you going to the under 17,
under 18, under 19,
and you pass the stadium.
I'm like,
"I hope I can have some tickets."
[inaudible]
[Saka] That was your first World Cup,
-and you won?
-Yes.
Hey, that's crazy.
The impact that it had
on the French people.
-Yeah.
-And seeing people going,
more than a million
on the Champs-lyses--
-You said, a million people?
-Yeah, it was way more.
Some people said that the last time
the Champs-lyses were like that
was for the liberation of Paris.
[people cheering]
[Henry] Suddenly, that's when
the expectation kicked in for me.
Because we were not expected to win it.
-Okay, I understand it, yeah.
-If you know what I mean.
And suddenly, now you put the cup back
and, "Let's win it again."
[commentator 1] France nil, Senegal one.
And then, "Let's win it again."
[commentator 2] Italy
are champions of the world.
And then, "Let's win it again."
[commentator 3] But South Africa
have beaten France today...
Then you never win one again.
Along the way,
it becomes the norm, normality,
that you reach a level
where you're numb to happiness.
It's never enough.
I've always wanted to know actually,
I never asked before.
[Saka] Hmm?
So obviously, you could have been
sitting with me right now with two Euros.
Two Euros, one World Cup, yeah.
-Two finals? Euros?
-Yeah, two finals, man.
And you have none.
I'm not having a go.
I'm just saying how do you go
back now in the tournament
thinking, "We need to win something"?
-How do you go in your head knowing--
-Mmm-hmm.
what it is to play for England
and the pressure of the press?
How do you do that?
When you put the England shirt on,
there's an expectation already, you know?
You have to win, whether it's a friendly.
You can't win 1-0.
Otherwise, they kill you.
And especially, when people
speak about the Euro stuff
and what happened the last time
I took a penalty, that adds to it.
It's heavy.
[interviewer] Another amazing moment
in an incredible year.
What's it like to get
your first England call-up?
When I landed, I turned off
aeroplane mode and I'd just seen a text.
"We're happy to confirm that you've been
selected for the England national team."
And I was staring at it
for five minutes in shock.
I'm so, so happy, you know?
It's an honour to be called-up for England
'cause I've been dreaming of this moment,
so I'm so happy.
My family's so happy and we just can't
put into words how happy we are.
The growth around a young player now,
if they're playing in top flight,
is difficult to prepare them for
until they're living it.
When I first met Bukayo,
he was probably around 14.
I was working for Arsenal at the time.
Everyone was just excited about this
young talent that was in the academy.
He was a very inquisitive, kind soul,
and seemed very sure of himself
and confident.
Still, a very soft, gentle human being.
And then, he took the step
into the first team.
[Saka mumbling]
[commentator] It's a wonderful goal
from the teenager, Bukayo Saka.
[James] You can see the exposure
building and building.
It's hard for people to understand
unless they're living it.
I just wanted to protect him
from the parts of the industry
that are quite challenging.
[commentator] There's Saka again!
The Starboy continues to shine!
[James] Moving into the Euros,
I knew that if he played well,
his whole world changes that summer.
This is Kane.
[Saka] It's not just playing for my club,
you know, it's the whole country.
[commentator] It might fall for Saka!
A first international goal
at senior level for Bukayo Saka!
England had a chance to win the Euros.
We haven't won it before.
And I almost feel like a responsibility
to give back
all the faith,
all the trust that they've given me.
[commentator] Saka. Trying to stop him
from doing so. Sterling is in.
That's how you remember Bukayo Saka!
But no one can predict the outcome
that we had of the final.
[commentator] The trophy will be decided
via penalty shootout
for the first time, in fact, since 1976.
The penalty, people always talk, like,
"I would have done this."
No, you wouldn't.
You wouldn't 'cause you've never
been in that situation.
Walking that walk.
Alone.
[whistle blows]
[crowd cheers]
[crowd cheers]
[commentator] And Pickford saves!
[Henry] If you've never taken a penalty
in your life,
just don't talk, please.
Because you guys don't know what it is.
[commentator] 2-2 after three.
[Henry] You don't know
what it can do to your career.
[commentator] Pickford is down
to stop him!
[Henry] And also what it can do
to your mind.
[commentator] Italy ahead for the moment.
But now it's the teenager,
Bukayo Saka, one of the youngest players
ever to play in a European Championship.
He's got to score here
to keep England alive.
[Saka] Walking up,
I believed I was gonna score, you know?
You have that confidence in yourself,
otherwise you wouldn't even grab the ball
or say that you're going
to take the penalty.
If I remember,
I was at home in the kitchen.
When you got up to take it,
I was like, "No!"
And I saw myself getting up to take it
against Italy in the quarter-final.
And I remember me being 20.
I don't remember
what was happening in the stadium.
Like, I blacked out.
-I knew where I was going to take it...
-Yeah.
...and I wasn't going to change.
[cheering]
All I know is, when the ball went in,
I heard, "Yeah!"
-Yeah. Yeah.
-That's what I remember.
When I saw you going there...
even if I didn't know you
like that personally...
all I'm thinking...
like, "Please don't miss it.
"Please don't miss it."
[commentator] And he doesn't!
And Italy are champions of Europe.
[commentator] It's poor Bukayo Saka
who misses the crucial one.
This one's going to sting for a while.
[fans groaning]
[man shouts angrily]
[Saka] That was probably the lowest
I've ever felt.
That moment, it changed me.
You go back in the dressing room,
and you can't...
Like, your head is down
and you can't look at...
-You can't look at, yeah.
-...at people,
-that's the worst feeling ever.
-Yeah.
You know how it's a major tournament?
You're there for six weeks.
It's intense, the amount of travelling,
preparation, training sessions.
And then...
it's like, "Guys, like, I'm sorry, man."
[Henry] We're here as a team.
You know, you win together.
But unfortunately, when you lose...
sometime you lose alone.
In that certain moment,
it was tough to see, like,
how you would put an amend to this,
how we would come back from this.
I knew he was a very strong kid.
But if he fails to recover mentally,
he's probably gonna have to retire,
probably can't play any more.
I just felt an immense sadness
because I knew
that it would come with abuse.
[newsreader] Three players
who missed penalty kicks
in a sudden-death shootout,
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho
and Bukayo Saka, were blasted
with racist abuse online after the game.
[Benson] He didn't deserve that.
[Saka] I was aware of what was going on.
And all the negativity, hate, racism.
I didn't go out of my way to read it.
But it would come up.
It still affected me.
[Henry] I'm looking at what's happening,
and I didn't have any doubt
how he was feeling.
You're asking the Black guy
what does he think about it.
Do I need to tell you, really?
You take it as a normality,
that's how it is.
You raise above it. Why do we have
to raise above it since we're young?
You know, you miss a penalty,
and what does the colour of your skin
have to do with anything in that?
So I reached out
because I could relate properly.
In the moment, for me,
when I saw your name,
'cause obviously,
a lot of people message me, message me,
when I saw your name,
it was like a little, you know,
buzz for me, you know?
Because you didn't need
to reach out to me, you know?
I was just like, "Wow, man."
And it's not just a message,
like a token message, like, "Head up."
You know, it was what you said.
[incoming message tone]
[reading] "You're already a winner
for stepping up.
"That was the hardest thing to do,
to put yourself out there.
"Not everyone is going to do that."
I went home and I had a lot
of my family around me.
Lifted me back up to my feet and helped me
get going again. That helped me so much.
[Mrs Saka on recording] Great players
have lost penalty before.
It's about how they overcame it,
and let the noise go down,
and then you can pick yourself up.
I won in one hour and flippin' 200.
Tell them how happy you are.
'Cause do you know
how much I worked for this?
Oh, my God!
I don't know. We were very young in life.
He was 17. I was 17, turning 18.
Everything around us shifted very quickly.
We've just, I guess,
maintained each other,
and protected each other,
and kept each other grounded.
He was that young child
that only wants to play football.
But I think now it's much more than that.
He wants to be in leadership roles.
He wants to take up
more space in football.
He wants to do so much more.
I think that's what concerns me sometimes.
Like, there'll be a point where,
God forbid, but you burn out,
like, he puts a lot of pressure
on himself all the time.
Kind of had to grow into this person
that wasn't seeing life
so innocent any more.
[Mr Saka] When you find your purpose,
you become a leader.
So he may seem like he's under pressure,
but that's what leaders do.
They can't relax.
So, it's always going
to be like that for him.
[Henry] This is why the great champions
are lunatics.
They're crazy because they will do
anything to not fail again.
They remember every single failure.
You see the expectation on his back,
and you see how he's dying to win.
It is personal.
He wants to give it not only, you know,
to the team, himself, but to the people.
[Saka] I think during the season,
like, I'm just so wired,
so locked in.
Where I find my joy
is more through the people,
my family, my fiance and my friends.
Especially in the summer,
you know, when you get to switch off.
[Benson] When I see he's a bit drained,
we know when to retreat.
We just have a little fort,
and we just stay in there.
Our bubble,
it's literally just friends,
family and us.
He's had the same friends for years.
Like, he has amazing friends.
[Williams] My first memory of him
was probably in the school playground
back in the Edward Betham days.
Playing football, causing havoc.
[chuckles]
He was never flashy, he always kept
his circle really small, humble.
It's no surprise where he is today.
I think people will think
he's a quiet person.
I thought the same thing,
I'm not gonna lie,
until I started to speak to him.
I could tell that straightaway
that this would be a good friend of mine.
He has that personality where he can
make anyone feel comfortable.
With football sometimes,
it can take over your life.
If you're not mentally prepared for it,
it can damage you.
It's important because you need
to have people that understand you
and don't just see you in the limelight.
They see you for who you really are.
That's one of the best parts
of being his friend, is, like,
when you can kind of just sweep football
to the side just for that afternoon.
[Benson] People probably have
in their head
that we're in the top restaurant,
getting our toes massaged or something.
I don't know. Like everything you think
that a seven-year old boy does,
that's what we do together.
We play LEGO,
we walk our dogs,
watch Marvel, we play Switch.
[Saka] You need to get your head
in the game.
Bro, come on, bro.
-[man exclaims]
-[whoops]
[Konsa] We've got the same banter,
same humour.
He's funny.
[ringing tone]
Yo.
[Konsa] Love you too.
You unsetting it.
I'm done, finished.
-You told them the truth?
-Of course.
Not the whole truth,
but yeah, I told them the truth.
-Good, good, good.
-Told them what they needed to know.
Because you're taking it serious, serious.
Was he doing the media training?
Or was it... All of that?
I was just being myself,
living my truth, being myself?
-Being yourself?
-Yeah, bro.
[Benson] I think he's just a kind soul.
He has a sweet heart.
And he means it, he's not a fake.
And I think that he just wants to bless
as many people as he can in his lifetime.
When you have someone so strong
and so primed
to try and give themselves
to so many different pots,
inside it, like, you know they're probably
quite vulnerable, and you know that
they've not given enough to themselves,
like they're giving to so many pots,
but they've never stopped
to give to themselves.
[Henry] Playing well,
it's different than scoring goals.
Is it heavy to carry sometimes?
Like, you see, like, it's an hour.
Thirty minutes to go,
you're like,
"Well, I still didn't score." Like...
-Yeah.
-You don't play the same way.
-Yeah.
-Sometimes you rush stuff.
-Yeah.
-Because you didn't touch the ball
-for a very long time.
-I understand.
I feel I have a role,
to make the difference, you know?
Whether it's delivering a goal,
delivering an assist.
-Okay, but--
-It's not enough to just track back
and hold the ball or whatever.
-It's not enough.
-I know. I was the same.
But don't be too harsh...
-If I... Let me ask you the flip question.
-Yes.
Nine games, you were
unbelievable defensively.
Holding the ball up,
bringing your teammates into play,
but you didn't score
in all the nine games.
You only scored in one out of the ten.
Would you be satisfied
and be like, "Okay, like--"
-I was never satisfied.
-You understand what I'm saying?
-I know, but--
-You know what we're judged on
-as attackers?
-Of course,
even more so now people
are getting judged on stats.
-That plays in your head as well.
-I'm talking about you and your brain.
-I defended, I helped--
-But for you, it's not enough.
-It's not enough.
-I know, but it does matter.
You say this,
but I feel like one of your biggest
weapons and your superpowers
was, like, your mentality
that it wasn't enough.
How much do you feel
like the balance works? Like--
Well, I don't know.
This is what I'm telling you.
-Try it, because I didn't do it.
-Okay.
I wasn't programmed for that.
I was programmed to think
about what I haven't done.
I was rogue when I was young.
-I was just running at people.
-Yeah.
Fast and furious.
For me, in my mind, this is what you need
to have in order to be winning.
But I was still upset with life.
That's one of the thing
that I didn't know, what makes me happy.
If you don't allow yourself
to be happy about something,
it brings you places in your head
where you don't see any lights.
I wasn't equipped enough
to understand that
when I was younger. And so I said,
"Try to be happy
and see the big picture here.
-"Not just an image."
-No, I understand
-exactly you're saying.
-Just to you.
A lot of times, I struggle to find
happiness and satisfaction because...
like you, I'm always thinking about what
I haven't done, what I need to do next.
I haven't achieved
anything yet for Arsenal.
-But why the joy has to go away?
-I don't know.
For me, I feel a responsibility to...
-Yeah, but--
-...give back to the club, how much
they've put into me, the fans,
you know, the staff, the trust.
If I said to you, let's say, 15 years ago,
that you would have been
in your situation,
what do you think the little Bukayo
would say to the Bukayo now?
[Saka] This is my home, man.
I can just remember the kid in me
just up and down these high streets.
I think when I was in primary school,
-I used to wear a football kit.
-[Henry] Really?
Arsenal, Newcastle,
-Man United...
-Any...
Any kit?
I had every kit, man.
I haven't been back since I left.
Seven years now.
Which one is it?
This one. Straight down.
That's the way.
Oh, my days, man!
Look, the sign, "no ball games".
[chuckles] We used to play football
all day.
I can't believe this.
We used to play me versus
my brother and my dad.
But they were both older than me,
stronger than me, bigger than me.
That's what drove me,
to try and be better than them.
We weren't going inside until I won.
[Mr Saka] Sometimes we play six hours.
If he doesn't win, we don't go in.
Kicks the ball everywhere.
He wants to play football all the time.
[Williams] If he wasn't playing football
in his back garden,
we'd be out in the front
with some of the other neighbours
in that small little close.
That patch of grass was quite dangerous
because cars used to end up
getting hit with footballs,
with stray footballs.
[Mr Saka] Age five, six,
Bukayo was kicking the ball very hard,
it was going to smash all the windows.
My mum would be cooking there.
The ball smashed through that.
[imitates Mrs Saka exclaiming]
Bap, bap, bap, all the time.
[Henry] She didn't say anything?
She was so annoyed, but I was gonna do it
again and again and again.
He was only seven, I took him
to that back garden, Greenford Celtic
and the coach said
he's gonna be part of the A team.
I remember some of the players appearing,
telling me, "I see this boy
play in Premier League."
[man] He's always been Bukayo
from when I was seven until today.
We were in the academy at the same time.
I just remember this kid that just kept
shooting and shooting, and...
Yeah, he was an exceptional player.
When we were given tickets
to go watch Arsenal at the Emirates,
they'd sit all the young players
behind the first team bench.
You're just, like, starstruck.
[Saka] I remember just screaming at Chuba,
'cause he came from the academy.
There was, like, three of us,
all screaming for his shirt.
And then he took it off, threw the shirt.
And I swear, that was one
of the best days of my life as a kid.
Just, like, complete joy.
We saw ourselves in him.
[Okonkwo] You know, you see these players
doing your dream.
And, you know, I think that's the moment
where you're thinking
what if you could?
But for my dad, it was a must
that I was going to be
a professional player.
That's the first thing
he said when he saw me.
He didn't say I was ugly or beautiful
-or my forehead was too big.
-[Saka laughs]
He just said, "This guy is going
to be a good football player."
That's what he said.
Because my dad loves football.
So, I guess because he didn't do it,
you know, like, he was like,
"Oh, the next best thing is you doing it."
You know, my dad was so big on me
and my brother being successes,
he wanted me to be a football player,
but he wanted me to be who I wanted to be.
[Mr Saka] He thought to play football
at a very high level.
Arsenal was the best.
It was very tough.
Getting to Arsenal from where we live
was about two or three hours.
I'd leave everything that I did
to take him training,
even when I was tired or ill.
They play us against older boys.
Probably four years older.
So he would look at me
for encouragement to the pitch,
I'd say, "Son, anything happens there,
I'm jumping to the pitch.
"I'm here. Go ahead and play."
You know, they really, really, really
put their lives to the side,
taking me to football.
They would come back, food would be ready.
I felt like they were almost in it
with me, you know?
Like, they were almost...
If they could kick the ball with me,
they would do it.
It just brings back the memories,
you know?
So many memories.
[reading] "Sorry, Mum, if it's late.
"But Jollof rice, plantain
and chicken would be nice."
And she said, "Too late for Jollof rice.
"I have made white rice
with beans, pepper stew,
"but not too spicy, Efo and chicken."
And I just replied,
"Speak in the morning."
[laughs]
-Not even "thank you," nothing.
-Nothing!
Hey, Mum, I'm sorry, man,
that's poor from me.
[Mrs Saka] I would send a message
checking on him in the morning
or in the afternoon,
-"How's your day been?"
-[message tone]
I find a passage in the Bible
to just share with him,
to support him, to encourage him.
God is the only one who is not limited
in what he can do.
And what he cannot do does not exist.
-So believe.
-[ringing tone]
[Mrs Saka] Hello?
Hello. Remember this bike?
Yeah, your bike.
It's still here.
Oh, my God. They kept it.
Look at the garden.
The garden is small now.
Yeah, it's so small now.
How is the kitchen?
The kitchen?
-Yeah.
-So it's all gone?
She fed the family well.
My dad, as well, used to work, work, work.
Me and my brother,
we didn't really understand.
To living life, man.
How you live life as a kid, man,
no worries,
no stresses, just free.
You realised, my team's so good,
but only a few of us are gonna make it.
And the coaches,
they made that clear to us.
And that's when I said in my head,
"I really want it to be me."
[Mr Saka] I said, "Bukayo,
if you really want to play
with the very first team,
"you have to be the best at what you do."
He said, "Daddy, I'm gonna be the best."
It was the 1st of January, and it meant
a lot to us, meant a lot to him.
He came on, and he didn't
really touch the ball at all.
While others were laughing
and saying he didn't touch the ball,
we saw bigger and better things for him,
and that was the beginning.
[Saka] Every time you drive up,
as soon as I see the stadium,
I get this joy or this buzz, you know?
When I see the fans all together
outside the stadium,
you know, it's match day, man.
It's game time.
Highbury, you go down Avenell Road,
-you see everybody there.
-Yeah. All the fans?
-Hey! That was a good!
-That must've been top, man.
-That's top.
-Yeah, that was good.
-Yeah.
-That was my stadium.
Playing there was just like,
I always have the feeling
that it is gonna be okay.
Arsenal lead 3-2.
Thierry Henry gets another one.
-That was good, man.
-It's amazing, man.
It's amazing.
Do you miss that a bit? Like--
-I miss competing.
-Yeah. I miss--
I miss playing.
I miss the competition side of it.
The battle.
[Henry] I love when I'm challenged,
makes me better.
[Saka] So when you won
the Premier League the first time...
what did you do after?
Nothing.
Nothing?
So you're telling me
you won the league and--
What do you do? Go where?
-Well, I mean--
-I'm not everybody.
I'm just saying that I didn't go out.
I didn't enjoy it.
[Saka] But thinking about all of that
that we've discussed, man,
where did you find joy?
[Henry] Pleasing my dad
and pleasing my teammates
was my source of happiness, I guess.
What about yours?
[Saka] I don't know.
Maybe this is not enough.
But when I was a kid, you know,
that garden was the best in the world.
That was like my Emirates.
As you grew up,
you know, the world naturally,
it beats all of that out of you, you know?
So this is what I'm saying.
I said that about the game, also.
When you were young,
you were seeing your life.
You were imagining stuff.
So you were using more
your brain than your eyes.
For me, the best goal that you can score
is the one that you saw
before in your head,
and then you execute it.
Only one possibility
where the field is limitless.
That's a different approach
to play the game.
So first and foremost,
freedom is key to be able to do that.
If you look at the situation
with your eyes, you see 10 people.
You're like, you don't dare go in.
Like, there's no way I can score.
Like, you're killing the creativity.
But now, if you start to look
at the game with your brain,
how can I pass you?
You know, how can I beat you guys?
You're not saying to yourself,
"I cannot do it."
I think that's what makes people
appreciate you and respect you,
because there's some of the things
you were trying to do...
Even that goal you scored
when you flicked up, volleyed it.
-Who even tries that?
-I mean--
You know what I'm saying?
You do create your own freedom
like, you know,
you're doing something that you love.
But because of the noise outside
and in your head,
you lose the connection
of our inner child.
And I always say the best conversation
that you can have is you and yourself.
Are you gonna be honest with yourself?
This guy has a lot to tell you...
on how it is now.
[Saka] Ah! Emirates.
My guy, it's not everyday
Thierry Henry is in town, man.
[Henry] Come on, man.
They've come for you, not for me.
[Saka] Nah, don't be silly, man.
[Henry] Do you actually remember
the first time you walked in here?
[Saka] I remember, man.
I came for a stadium tour.
I remember taking a picture
with all the players' shirts
that were here at the time.
I believe it was there, right there.
So happy, so proud to be here.
That was the closest I've ever been
to any professional footballer.
Now I sit in that changing room,
and sometimes kids are there
and they take pictures with my shirt.
It's just surreal
when you think about where you are.
But I don't like doing it too much,
you know, because I don't like feeling
comfortable and feeling too satisfied.
Let's head out. I don't know the way.
[Saka] You know the way.
You know this place.
It's just surreal when you think about
some of the moments I've had here.
Growing up,
Ronaldo was one of my favourite players.
There was one time I had to mark him
from a corner, it was crazy.
I had no chance.
Then he jumped
and he was almost in the sky.
[laughs] I had to just lock in, you know?
'Cause you get in your mind
and you just start thinking.
I used to watch this guy,
that was where I wanted to be.
And it's just knowing,
like, where I came from,
and now I'm on the pitch.
[crowd cheering]
-[Henry] What number? Seven?
-[Saka] Box seven.
When I score,
I look up there to my family,
see their faces with full of pride for me.
Beautiful, man.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
We saw your little garden.
Now, this is your big garden.
-"Big garden"?
-It is.
[laughs]
Pretty much, yeah.
You can see the difference in the pitch.
[Henry] When you're young,
everything is positive.
You had grass.
I grew up playing on concrete and clay.
-And you was more than happy with it?
-What?
-Yeah.
-Sliding on my knees.
-The knee slide?
-On clay?
-Yeah!
-What?
When you're young.
-Nah, that's horrible, man.
-Yeah, but the day after,
you go and play again.
-Of course, of course.
-That's what I'm saying.
It's true.
Yeah, nothing would have
stopped you at that time.
-Nothing would have stopped you to play.
-No, nothing.
But now,
to play a football game,
everything has to be perfect.
-Yeah, it's changed a lot.
-Yeah.
But I guess when you're that age,
you don't really know,
like, what comes with being
a professional footballer, you know?
You won everything there is to win.
[Henry] "We" won everything.
[Saka] It's special, man.
When I sit here,
you know, after my career,
I want to leave a legacy,
a legacy that I can be proud of,
and that's nothing less than winning
all the trophies that I can.
[man 1] I don't even see a leader
on the pitch for Arsenal.
[Saka] No, losing is not...
It's not in the plan.
[man 2] It all falls on his shoulders
at the moment.
[Saka] But it's in my head.
-[man 3] He's been injured so many times.
-[man 4] That's non-negotiable...
[man 5] I think the form
has dipped a little bit.
[Saka] I'm always thinking about what
I haven't done.
[man 6] Within that half a decade,
he's had basically no success.
-[man 7] His numbers aren't great.
-[man 8] He hasn't been that good.
[Henry] Stop.
Don't overthink it, just play.
You never know if you're gonna play
a final again.
And you never know
if you're gonna score a goal again.
The time is now.
-Because when it's over...
-Yeah?
...time is gone.
Yeah, it's true. It's true.
You know, you're writing it right now,
you're writing your history and the story.
But don't forget to be in the moment.
Sometimes you get trapped
in your competitive mind
and where you want to go,
and you forget about your own happiness
and where you are.
Yeah.
You have health.
Your other half is magnificent.
Family is outstanding.
What do you miss in life?
Which is why I asked you
that question earlier,
did you see yourself
as young Bukayo there, running?
You forget, you know, that true happiness
that you had when you're young.
Your mum, your dad makes sure
that you were happy,
but if you can be connected
to that little Bukayo, you'll be okay.
So, how do you go back
to that same place in your head?
You should have it with you all the time.
Joy.
[Mr Saka] I remember Bukayo.
He was a very young age.
We went on holidays in Nigeria,
and he was kicking football
with his brother.
He smashed a TV.
But we didn't really blame him
because that's what he does.
He used to smash windows in the house.
He smashed someone's TV.
So we started to know
that that's his purpose.
So we encouraged him.
That's why he shoots really, really hard
from a young age.
Anytime he's on a pitch,
he's like a fish in water.
We always told him
that it's only one in a million
that's going to make it
to be a football player.
So it's been very, very difficult.
[Mrs Saka] We had a sit-down with him
to say, "There will be dips,
"there will be highs.
But when it's dipping,
"what's the lesson that you need
to come out of it,
"and then you take that lesson
to rise again."
[crowd cheering]
[Mr Saka] He gets a lot of joy
from playing football...
from a very young age.
[fans singing indistinctly]
[Mr Saka] So we put so much into Bukayo.
Put so much into making sure
that he can play.
He didn't care where.
He's just really happy
that someone really found him worthy
of playing football at a very high level.
So he gives his best
every time he's on the pitch.
[crowd cheering]
[Saka] It's a dream come true.
Ever since I joined the club
at the age of eight,
I've always dreamed
of playing at the Emirates.
His full name is Oluwabukayomi,
which means "God has added to my joy."
He does it in so many ways,
to give joy to people.
-Saka!
-Saka!
[girl] He is our role model,
and he is our inspiration.
And it gives us hope that maybe one day
we can become a professional footballer.
[Mrs Saka] Understanding that name...
helps him give...
and have joy.
[Saka] I'll never get this moment again.
[stadium PA announcer
speaking indistinctly]
[Henry] I wish you all the best
at the World Cup,
apart when you play France.
I don't care about England.
What are you talking about?
I know Henry sound English,
but hey, keep it real, man.
-He's a Londoner. He's a Londoner.
-I love--
I love him, but, hey, you know
who I'm supporting in the World Cup.
[laughs]
I don't care!
[both laugh]
He can smell the chicken suya...
So what's up?
[humming]
Chop!
You used to... When you was growing up,
did you know how to swim?
-Yeah.
-Yeah?
-Yeah.
-Where did you learn, in school?
My dad threw me in the water.
No, that's crazy, man.
-But which water?
-In the Caribbean,
he put me on his back.
We did swim for maybe,
I swear, 200 metres.
-What?
-Then he threw me.
He said, "Come back to me."
That's how I learned, man.
And then you just...
I don't know what I was doing,
but I came back.