Bukayo Saka is chomping at the bit to reach the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with the Arsenal badge on his chest.
Asked about the allure of coming up against Real Madrid in the knockout stages on Tuesday, our Hale End hero can't wait to get started.
“It’s Madrid, you have to respect that and accept what they’ve done in the history, but tomorrow anything can happen, so we can’t focus too much on that," he said in his pre-match press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Monday.
“It would mean a lot to us [to win]. It’s the first time the club has been in back-to-back Champions League quarter finals for a while now, so tomorrow night we want to take the next step and try and get over the line.
“The players are ready, we’re up for it. I honestly have no doubt that the fans tomorrow will be up for it as well and will create the most beautiful atmosphere the stadium has ever witnessed.”
Saka recently returned from a long-term injury and, while no-one ever wants to get injured in the first place, he explained that it did him some good to get a break from football.
“I think mentally it was really good for me," he said. "Obviously it was really tough for me initially to find out the extent of my injury, that I was going to have surgery, it was really tough for me to hear the news at first but once it was done and successful I was just focused on coming back stronger and I had a lot of time.
“The past five years I’ve been playing game after game so it was the first proper break I’ve had. It was really good for me. I got to do a lot of things that I don’t normally do. It’s really nice to be back and I feel fresh mentally.
“It came at a bad moment but I’m just focused now on the positives and I couldn’t ask to come back at a better time of the season than now.”
Our number seven was also asked about advice he'd been given in the past by Thierry Henry, whose goal at the Santiago Bernabeu saw us beat Madrid over two legs almost 20 years ago.
“For me, I think the biggest thing I take when I speak to Thierry is the confidence that he has in himself," he said.
“Obviously he gives me a few details in certain situations on the pitch with what he sees and how he sees the game. But for me, when I speak to him, I like the way he is so confident and he genuinely believes that when he’s on the pitch that no-one could stop him.
“I think with that belief, he literally destroyed the league. That’s what I admire of him the most.”
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