Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has tasked Bukayo Saka with scoring more goals, saying the forward needs to increase his tally.
Arteta made this known while fielding questions on whether Saka can match his 20-goal milestone from last season.
"No, I think the numbers should go to score two or three per game," Arteta explained. "That's it. That's the mindset. And then if you score one, so be it, you score two, so be it, because he has the ability to score in many ways."
The manager also said calculating long-term tallies can dull a striker's edge.
"But normally, if you go to all the attackers, and that's the way, I think you have to attack something," he added. "Because if you go '20, OK, now we are in October, I still have eight months to score 17 more goals.' That's not the mindset, that's not going to take you there."
To boost his output, Arsenal have deliberately worked to get Saka into central areas, closer to the six-yard box. The tactical tweak has already produced close-range finishes against Coventry and Aston Villa, as well as two tap-ins for England against Croatia during the international break.
"That is where we need to get him," Arteta noted regarding Saka's evolving positional play. "If he misses the chance, so be it. At the end, the more volume we generate, the bigger the probability of him scoring more goals. He has been getting in great positions, getting shots, getting one-touch finishes and tap-ins."
Arteta believes this evolution makes his star winger much harder to track, adding: "That is the kind of unpredictability we have with that player, otherwise we know how the opponent is going to defend him."
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