Bukayo Saka Religion

What religion is Bukayo Saka?

Bukayo Saka is a professional soccer player who is a practicing Christian and has said that he reads the Bible every night. Saka was raised in a strong Christian family in West London by his Nigerian (Yoruba) parents. Bukayo Saka plays for both the Premier League club Arsenal and the England men’s national team and is considered by many as one of the best players in the world. Saka also played for England in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he scored twice in a 6–2 victory over Iran in England’s opening match at the tournament and once in England’s 3–0 defeat of Senegal in the round of 16. Among his career accomplishments, he won an FA Cup and two FA Community Shields with Arsenal and was twice named England Men’s Player of the Year for the 2021–22 season ahead of Declan Rice and Harry Kane, becoming the first Arsenal player to win the honor.

Contracts, Salary & Career Earnings

Bukayo Saka signed a long-term contract extension with Arsenal in February 2026 that runs through June 2031. The five-year deal makes him the highest-paid player in Arsenal’s history, with wages reported to be in excess of £300,000 per week, a significant step up from his previous arrangement. His prior deal, signed in May 2023, had been set to run until June 2027, during which he earned £195,000 per week, or just over £10 million per year. Negotiations over the new extension had been underway for close to twelve months before reaching a conclusion, with Saka understood to have given his verbal commitment to remaining at the club as early as January 2026, before formally putting pen to paper the following month. His base salary under the new deal stands at approximately £15.6 million per year, with the potential to earn an additional £3.9 million annually through performance-related bonuses, bringing the total contract value to around £78 million over its duration.

Early life

Bukayo Ayoyinka Temidayo Saka was born on September 5, 2001, in London, England, to Yoruba Nigerian immigrant parents, Yomi and Adenike. Saka’s mother, Adenike, hails from the Elerinmowe compound in Ijomu-Oro, Kwara State; his father, Yomi, is from Ogun State. His mother, Adenike, is a chartered accountant who studied at Mayflower Secondary School in Lagos and later obtained a diploma in accounting at the University of West London after relocating to England, while his father, Yomi, is a businessman. Saka is the youngest of two children. His older brother, Abayomi Saka, was also a promising footballer who played for Watford as a teenager but ultimately opted to pursue higher education. Saka was educated at Edward Betham Church of England Primary School and Greenford High School. Saka played youth football with his local club Greenford Celtic as well as with the youth teams of Watford and Arsenal.

Arsenal

Saka made his first-team debut for Arsenal in late November 2018 in a UEFA Europa League match against Vorskla Poltava, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute for Aaron Ramsey. He made his first full home debut two weeks later in another Europa League match, against Qarabağ, before making his Premier League debut on New Year’s Day 2019 in a 4–1 victory over Fulham, becoming the first player born in 2001 to appear in a Premier League match. He scored his first career goal in the Europa League in September 2019. At the end of the season, he was an unused substitute in the FA Cup final, which Arsenal won by defeating Chelsea 2–1. Arsenal went on to win the FA Community Shield on penalties against Liverpool. Saka finished the 2019–20 season with four goals across 38 total appearances.

He continued to establish himself as a top player in subsequent seasons. In the 2020–21 season, Saka scored seven goals in 46 total appearances and earned Arsenal Player of the Month honors for December, January, and February consecutively, the only player to win the award three times in a single season that year before being named Arsenal Player of the Season. He earned that title again in 2021–22, becoming Arsenal’s standout performer and producing 11 goals and seven assists across 38 Premier League appearances. In the 2022–23 season, Saka made his 100th Premier League appearance in a 3–0 win at Bournemouth, becoming the second youngest Arsenal player to reach that milestone. In October, he scored in three consecutive matches for the first time in his career, including a brace against Liverpool and goals against Bodø/Glimt and Leeds United. He continued his success by winning the Premier League Player of the Month award for March 2023, finished the season with 15 goals in 48 total appearances, and was named the PFA Young Player of the Year. He also won his second FA Community Shield with Arsenal that summer.

In the 2023–24 season, Saka set an Arsenal club record with his 83rd consecutive Premier League appearance, against Fulham in August 2023. A month later, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 4–0 win over PSV. In October, he captained Arsenal for the first time in a 5–0 home win against Sheffield United before making his 200th appearance for the club in December in a 4–3 win over Luton Town, becoming the fourth youngest Arsenal player to reach that milestone. On 11 February 2024, he scored a brace in a 6–0 win over West Ham, becoming the youngest Arsenal player to surpass 50 Premier League goals. He finished the season as the club’s top scorer with 20 goals across 47 total appearances.

Saka made an electric start to the 2024–25 season, creating 10 assists in his first 13 Premier League matches. His campaign was then derailed by a serious hamstring injury in December 2024 that required surgery and kept him out for over three months. He returned to action and made an immediate impact, scoring against Fulham just seven minutes into his comeback, before netting in Arsenal’s famous victory over Real Madrid, chipping Thibaut Courtois to help the club reach the Champions League semi-finals. He finished the season with six goals and 10 assists, his lowest return since his breakout in 2020–21, though the injury context made his contributions all the more impressive. The 2025–26 season has brought a fresh chapter of landmark moments. On 4 October 2025, Saka made his 200th Premier League appearance in a 2–0 win over West Ham United, converting a penalty to register both his 55th league goal and his 100th goal involvement in the competition, becoming the seventh youngest player in Premier League history to reach that milestone and the second Arsenal player after Thierry Henry to score in his 200th league appearance for the club. On 4 March 2026, he made his 300th appearance for Arsenal in all competitions, scoring the winner in a 1–0 victory at Brighton, before netting the decisive goal against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg in May 2026, sending Arsenal to their first Champions League final in 20 years.

International career

Saka began representing England at the youth level in 2016 with the under-16 team. He progressed to the under-17 side in 2017 and went on to appear in both the UEFA European Under-17 Championship and the Torneio Internacional do Algarve in 2018. As part of the under-18 team, he helped England win the 2018 Limoges Tournament in France. He made 10 appearances for the under-19 side, scoring four goals, before making just one appearance for the under-21 team, a 6–0 win over Kosovo in September 2020, before his rapid promotion to the senior team. Saka was called up to the England senior squad for the first time in October 2020 and made his international debut as a starter in a 3–0 victory over Wales. He scored his first senior international goal in his fifth appearance, netting the only goal in a friendly win over Austria in June 2021. In 2022, Saka was named England Men’s Player of the Year for the 2021–22 season, becoming the first Arsenal player to win the honor. He was named in England’s 26-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he scored twice in the opening 6–2 victory over Iran and once more in the 3–0 win over Senegal in the round of 16, finishing the tournament with three goals before England were eliminated in the quarter-finals by France. He retained the England Men’s Player of the Year award in 2023, having scored seven goals in ten internationals during the previous season. He also scored his first international hat-trick that year, netting three times in a 7–0 home win over North Macedonia in Euro 2024 qualifying.

At Euro 2024, Saka was once again a key figure as England navigated their way through the tournament. He became Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer for the England national team when he netted a goal against Switzerland in the quarter-final. England reached the final for the second time in three major tournaments but lost 2–1 to Spain, with Saka finishing the tournament having contributed to several of England’s most important moments. He has since continued to represent England in the UEFA Nations League and World Cup qualifying, earning over 48 senior caps and scoring 14 goals for his country.

Personal life

Bukayo Saka and long-term partner Tolami Benson are engaged. The couple have famously maintained a private relationship since they first began dating in 2020.