Bukayo Saka has spent eight years in Arsenal’s senior team and the “starboy” from the club’s academy has gone through various evolutions in that time. He started as a full-back, gradually morphed into a left-sided forward and then transformed into one of the finest right wingers in the European game.

Now 25, Saka appears to be evolving again. The early evidence of this new season is that the England international is becoming more aggressive in his positioning, and more determined than ever in his pursuit of goals.

In 11 appearances for club and country so far this season, Saka has found the net five times. It is only a small sample size, of course, but that rate of scoring is the best of his career.

Perhaps even more encouraging than the numbers, though, is the nature of the goals he has scored. All four of the goals Saka has struck from open play have been close-range finishes, as he has attacked the six-yard from his starting position on the right flank. Last season, only one of his 11 goals for Arsenal was scored in this manner.

Is Saka becoming a proper penalty-box predator? It is too early to say for certain but it is absolutely clear that he is taking up different positions, closer to the opponents’ goal, this season. Not only when the ball is on the left flank, but also when Arsenal are attacking through midfield.

The best example was his winning strike at Aston Villa, at the end of August. As Arsenal attacked down the left, Saka charged into the six-yard box with remarkable muscularity and determination. Villa left-back Ian Maatsen was simply overpowered. In previous seasons, Saka would have hovered at the back post. Here, he burst forward into the six-yard box.

“He has been getting in great positions, getting shots, getting one-touch finishes and tap-ins,” Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, said. “That is where we need to get him.”

Against Leeds United on Saturday, Saka endured a frustrating afternoon on an individual level. He was not at his best on the ball, but he still came close to scoring twice from central positions: first, when attacking a low cross from the left, and secondly when running in behind the Leeds defence in stoppage time.

It is a measure of Saka’s improved ability to find these dangerous positions that he should have scored many more than five goals in these opening matches of the campaign. His movement and timing have undoubtedly improved, but his finishing, so far, has not. Big opportunities in games against Brighton and Napoli were wasted.

Arteta is not concerned about the missed chances. For the Arsenal manager, it is all about the “volume” of goalscoring opportunities for Saka. “If he misses the chance, so be it,” Arteta said. “At the end, the more volume we generate, the bigger the probability of him scoring more goals. He is doing well. He could have had another four or five goals by now, easily.”

Arteta has been trying to encourage a change of mentality in Saka, to turn him into a true killer in front of goal. Saka’s most prolific season so far was the 2023-24 campaign, when he scored 20 goals in all competitions for Arsenal, and Arteta evidently wants him to obliterate that record this year.

“When he talks about scoring a certain amount of goals, he needs to be thinking about scoring a certain amount of goals per game,” Arteta said. “If that shifts, that mentality, he will get into those positions and score more goals.

“I think the numbers should go to score two or three per game. That’s it. That’s the mindset. Because if you go: ‘20 [goals], OK, now we are in October so I still have eight months to score 17 more goals.’ That’s not the mindset. That’s not going to take you there.”

The change in attitude and positioning inevitably has consequences on other parts of Saka’s game. If he is channelling his energy towards finishing moves in the penalty area, then he will inevitably contribute less to starting moves on the flank. Indeed, Saka’s crosses per game and dribbles per game in the Premier League have declined considerably this season.

If that is the price that Saka must pay for scoring more goals, it is a deal that he and Arteta would happily sign. Saka is already one of the best players in his position in the world and there is only one thing that can elevate him to the very highest level of the game: goals. Is that the next evolution? “Yes,” Arteta said. “For sure. And he can do that.”