Scottish legend Graeme Souness, the former Liverpool and Rangers captain, has attacked Arsenal star Bukayo Saka following the Gunners' win over Nottingham Forest, insisting that the English winger is always "pretending to fall".
The former midfielder launched his attack on "Piers Morgan: Uncensored Football", accusing Saka of play-acting and deceiving referees without actually being fouled. In his view, the Arsenal man goes down far too easily, and his team-mates pile pressure on officials to swing their decisions.
Souness said: "Saka pretends to fall everywhere. I don't want to hear about him. The moment it looks like he's about to lose the ball, he's already down on the ground. He's pretending a foul has occurred, and anyone who pretends like that is, in my view, a cheat."
He added: "He pretends to fall when he should stay on his feet. And he's not the only one. When Saka is tripped, he screams as he falls. The referee thinks at first that there's nothing in it, but he waits a little and finds him still on the ground. Then it gets worse when all the Arsenal players near the incident raise their hands and scream that a foul has occurred."
He continued: "The referee then panics and blows his whistle even though it wasn't a foul, and his first instinct was correct. But he awards a foul because he thinks: hold on, there's something here I don't understand."
Turning to the latest incident, Souness said: "Play-acting (feigning injury) is a form of cheating, yes. But it's widespread in football today. If you asked 100 people what they don't like about the modern game, 50% would say it's the play-acting and the other 50% would say it's video assistant referee technology."
Statistics support Saka
The numbers tell a different story. Saka is the second most fouled player in the Premier League this season with 21 fouls, behind only Elliot Anderson on 23, proof enough for his supporters that he gets tripped again and again, according to the Mirror newspaper.
This isn't the first time Saka has drawn criticism. In the 2024 Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, he went down after a touch from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, only for referee Glenn Nyberg to wave away the penalty appeals.
A hectic run now awaits the Gunners. They face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, then Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, before meeting Fleetwood Town in the League Cup three days later, with six more matches to come before the next international break.