Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is the straight A student set for key role for England

England star Bukayo Saka is riding high in the Premier League with top-of-the-table Arsenal.

This season the winger, from London, has clocked up an impressive four goals and six assists in 14 games, and has been instrumental in his domestic club's success.

Today he's set to start in England's World Cup opener against Iran at 1.00pm in Doha, pipping Manchester City's Phil Foden to the position.

But the 21-year-old forward did not always have it easy, having started life from very humble beginnings.

Saka grew up in modest circumstances just five miles from Wembley where he lived with his Nigerian parents and siblings.

The family stayed in a a small two-storey semi-detached home in Greenford, in the borough of Ealing, London.

From the age of three he was playing football on a communal green with his father Yomi and older brother Abayomi every night.

As a youngster he played for his local club Greenford Celtic until he was scouted by Arsenal aged seven.

His parents made many sacrifices as he flew through the ranks, with his  mother Adenike and father working menial jobs to pay the bills while ferrying him to football in the evenings and on weekends.

As a boy he went to Edward Betham C of E Primary School and then Greenford High School, duly leaving the latter in the summer of 2018 with four A*s and three As in his GCSEs.

The footballer's teachers, at the time, described him as 'the humble boy who achieved his dreams as well as a first-class education'.

The devout Christian started his day with a prayer, which read: 'Heavenly Father, you have given this new day to me, help me to make it one that pleases you by doing my best in everything. Amen.'

His head teacher Caroline Chamberlain told The Times he was an 'all rounder' and a 'really lovely, conscientious, hardworking boy.'

After leaving school he continued to climb the ranks at Arsenal's academy and broke into the first team during the 2019 / 2020 campaign.

The following year he started to play more regularly for the Gunners, scoring five goals and getting three assists in 32 appearances.

He copped the club's player of the season award and was rightly called up to play for England at the Euros.

Saka said there was never any doubt he would choose England over his parents' native Nigeria.

His debut for England came the year before, but Euro 2020 was his first major tournament for his country.

In his first game in the competition, he impressed fans and commentators with his man of the match performance against the Czech Republic.

After that stunning display, manager Gareth Southgate chose Saka to start ahead of household names such Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden.

He started in some the country's biggest games including Germany in the last 16, Denmark in the Semi Final, while he was substituted on in the final against Italy

England beat Czech Republic 1-0 in their final group game to progress to the knockout stages.

He said recently: 'My whole family has been in England like forever. When I grew up all my documents stated that I am English, hopefully Nigerian people will understand'.

However, his penalty miss in the shootout against Italy ultimately cost England the cup, and the ugly racist abuse he suffered afterwards overshadowed a remarkable tournament for him and England.

Nonetheless the youngster bounced back the following year with a very impressive domestic season with Arsenal, bagging 11 goals and seven assists.

In his personal life it was reported by MailOnline in June 2021 that he had swapped his modest two-bed family home he grew up in for a £2.3m luxury pad with his proud parents.

Just as he turned 18 he copped the £2.3million mansion in leafy Hertfordshire in November 2019 and was thought to have moved in with his parents and siblings soon after.

The house came complete with spa and walk-in wardrobes but he wanted to personalise it and workmen have been upgrading it regularly ever since.

The exact details of the upgrade have not been revealed but it’s understood the renovations have been extensive.

A team of workmen were even working in the grounds today to further modernise the property, which dwarfs its neighbours.

Saka is in a relationship with his girlfriend Tolami Benson, 22, who is a year older than the football star.

Ms Benson has more than 6,000 followers on the platform and is spotted on holiday in the sun or dining with friends.

The pair have reportedly been dating since late 2020 and have kept their relationship secret, with neither one of them following the other on Instagram.

Although the two have not confirmed their relationship in public, fans said the two were going out after they individually posted photos of each other on a yacht in Dubai.