“He may be cast in bronze, but he’s still capable of producing truly golden moments”, were the words Jon Champion cried when Thierry Henry scored that goal for Arsenal.
Titi, as he became known, had been there and done it all with the Gunners.
A Highbury legend, the great Frenchman is the club’s all-time record goalscorer, he holds the record for the most assists (20) in a single Premier League season and has countless honours to show for his efforts.
He is a multiple Golden Boot winner, a league winner, an FA Cup winner and he even has a World Cup winner’s medal. He is, arguably, the greatest player never to have won a Ballon d’Or.
So, when he returned on loan from New York Red Bulls during Arsene Wenger’s final years in north London, he was only going to deal in one currency: goals.
While he may have been reduced to a bit-part player, the magic was still there, netting that vintage goal against Leeds in the FA Cup to which we’ve already referred, before scoring a winner against Sunderland.
Henry joins fellow club legends Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams in having been cast as a statue outside the Emirates Stadium.
Since those memories were erected, supporters have longed for similar times. They have not won the league since the Invincibles side of 2003/04. How they would love for that to change.
21 years on and there is a sense this is their greatest chance of winning it since. The likes of Bukayo Saka and Co may well find themselves cast in bronze outside the stadium before too long.
Why a statue awaits Bukayo Saka
Has the Emirates era ever seen a more dazzling player than Saka?
The likes of Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez would all have something to say about that but none of them were loved quite as much as Saka.
He is Arsenal through and through. Born in London, raised in Hale End. The winger has been with the Gunners since he was a wee lad and has been the poster boy for Mikel Arteta’s project.
Saka’s emergence came under Unai Emery but it’s Arteta who has helped him become a household name, Arsenal’s talisman and one of the first names on the team sheet for England.
The 24-year-old’s rise to stardom has been quite something. Starting out in the senior ranks as a makeshift left-back, he is now ranked among the best wingers in the world. He’s done it Gareth Bale style and he’s now got the numbers to showcase why he’s quickly becoming an Arsenal legend.
No player has appeared more under Arteta than Saka and overall, he has now been seen decked in Arsenal colours on 272 occasions, scoring 73 and assisting 71 goals.
1. Bukayo Saka
252
2. Gabriel
221
3. Gabriel Martinelli
218
4. Martin Odegaard
204
5. Thomas Partey
166
6. Ben White
163
7. Eddie Nketiah
149
8. Granit Xhaka
147
9. William Saliba
144
10. Leandro Trossard
133
Saka only has one trophy to his name, an FA Cup, but if Arsenal’s vice-captain can help lead them to Premier League or Champions League glory, then he will surely be immortalised alongside Henry and Co outside the stadium.
Alongside him could well be the club’s new Adams.
Arsenal’s new Tony Adams is heading towards statue territory
Without Saka in recent years, Arteta’s attack would have lacked sparkle. After all, it is in the final third where their biggest problems have been found.
Largely due to Saka and Kai Havertz’s long-term hamstring injuries, the 2024/25 campaign was the first since 1923/24 that an Arsenal player failed to score double figures in the league.
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So what has the bedrock of Arteta’s success been built on? The defence.
When the Spaniard first took charge of Arsenal, the backline was a mess. His opening match in charge against Bournemouth saw Saka fielded alongside a pairing of Sokratis and David Luiz, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles featured at right back.
Sokratis and Luiz are far from the worst defenders Arsenal have had; think the likes of Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi in that regard.
That’s a sign of just how far the Gunners have come under Arteta’s stewardship. For those who criticise them for being boring, just think of what it used to be like.
GK – Bernd Leno
RB – Ainsley Maitland-Niles
CB – Sokratis
CB – David Luiz
LB – Bukayo Saka
CM – Lucas Torreira
CM – Granit Xhaka
CAM – Mesut Ozil
RW – Reiss Nelson
LW – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
CF – Alexandre Lacazette
The year before Arsenal’s former skipper returned to manage the club, 2018/19, the Gunners shipped 51 goals, the most they have ever conceded across a single Premier League campaign.
Fast forward to the present day and there is arguably no better defensive side in Europe. They are yet to concede across their three Champions League ties and have conceded just three goals in the Premier League, only one of which has been scored from open play. That came courtesy of Erling Haaland and we can excuse that. The man is a machine.
As a result, they are on course to concede just 14 league goals, thus bettering that remarkable campaign by Chelsea in 2004/05 when they let in only 15. That statistic still defies belief.
Arteta has strengthened his backline enormously and in Gabriel Magalhaes, he has found a player who may well be worthy of a statue once all is said and done. Indeed, he is the Tony Adams of the present day.
A ferocious leader, a damn good defender, and a scorer of goals, there isn’t a lot the Brazilian can’t do.
To think he once cost only £27m is incredible. He now looks every bit a £100m centre-back.
Over the last few years, it’s William Saliba who’s gained the most vocal praise from pundits. The French superstar is a Rolls-Royce defender but onlookers are quickly realising that it is indeed Gabriel who is the glue of this team.
Saliba oozes class and composure but Gabriel is certainly more of a leader of men. He not only does that with his talking but his actions speak a thousand words.
It was Jamie Carragher who admitted last season that the French defender looks a little lost when his partner in crime isn’t playing but the same cannot be said for Gabriel who is becoming Mr Reliable.
To rubber-stamp just how good the former Lille star is, he has won 77% of his ground duels in the league this season. For context, of English top-flight defenders to win more than ten ground duels, he ranks joint-fifth for percentage of ground duels won, sitting level with the great Virgil van Dijk.
But, it’s Gabriel’s offensive record that is the most striking. If a corner or free-kick gets swung, you can bet your house on the fact that the big Brazilian is likely to score a header from it. As Arsenal writer Adam Keys put it, he is a “colossus”.
He was involved in two of the goals against Atletico Madrid during the 4-0 win earlier in the week. Declan Rice’s swinging free-kick was nodded home to open the scoring and Gabriel then provided the assist from Rice’s corner for Viktor Gyokeres to bag his second of the evening.
The simple fact of the matter is that Gabriel is a clutch player. No centre-back in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more goals than his tally of 22 since 2020/21.
In league football alone, he has scored 18, a tally that places him second behind Laurent Koscielny (22) for goals scored by an Arsenal defender in the Premier League.
He is a modern-day great, a pillar of solidity, a warrior, a leader, a titan. Should Arsenal go on to create a title-winning dynasty, then Gabriel will surely be in with a shout of being cast in bronze. He is that good.