Arsenal legend Ray Parlour backs 'revelation' Bukayo Saka to overcome Euro 2020 penalty heartache

Bukayo Saka is consoled by teammates Kalvin Phillips and Luke Shaw. (Photo by Carl Recine - Pool/Getty Images)

Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has thrown his support behind Bukayo Saka following his penalty shootout miss in last weekend’s Euro 2020 final.

The teenager saw his effort saved by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma as England fell at the final hurdle in their bid to secure a first piece of major international silverware in 55 years.

The days since have been marred by online racial abuse directed towards Saka and his teammates Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford – both of whom failed to convert their spot-kicks as well.

After a period of silence on the matter, the Arsenal starlet released a statement on Thursday afternoon in which he addressed the comments he had been subjected to.

Writing on social media, he said: "I knew instantly the kind of hate that I was about to receive and that is a sad reality that your powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages.

"I don't want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that me Marcus and Jadon have received this week.

"There is no place for racism or hate of any kind in football or in any area of society.

"And, to the majority of people coming together to call out the people sending these messages, by taking action and reporting these comments to the police and by driving out the hate by being kind to one another, we will win.

"Love always wins."

Speaking about the precocious forward on talkSPORT on Friday morning, Parlour offered his support to Saka, and backed him to come back stronger from the affair.

He said: “He’s a brave young man, and he was a revelation last year at Arsenal. He’s carried that on.

"Everybody questioned him and whether he was going to be in the squad, but when he got his opportunity he took it.

"He’s a brave young man, and like everything, he will learn from this.

"As we said before, something needs to be done on social media platforms. Something really needs to change if we are going to move forward.

"It’s disgusting.”