Arsenal forward, Bukayo Saka admits flirting with Spurs, Chelsea, and other local rivals before committing to Arsenal
By Kehinde Okeowo
Nigerian-born British player, Bukayo Saka has admitted that he previously trained with the likes of Spurs, Chelsea, and Watford before fully committing his future to North London club, Arsenal.
The 20-year-old has become an integral player for the first-team at the Emirates, along with fellow Academy graduate, Emile Smith-Rowe. He also won the Arsenal Player of the Year award last season.
According to Football.London, the player while speaking to Sky Sports admitted that he is in Arsenal because it was the club that showed interest in him the most during his younger years.
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He also confessed to training with several other London outfits but added that he only had one club in mind and was desperate to play for the Gunners.
He said, ” I remember one session, and I don’t think I went to another one, but yeah, I think it was just to go and try different clubs but we always had Arsenal in our hearts.”
Asked who tried to sign him, he added: “There was Arsenal, Chelsea I was at for a bit, there was Watford, there was Tottenham.
“I think there were maybe two more but those are the ones that I can remember from the top of my head.
“Arsenal was the one I always wanted to go to. It seemed like they had a lot of faith in their youth and there was a clear pathway.
“You could see the players coming up from Hale End to London Colney, and my dad also really believed in the project and he loved Arsene Wenger a lot.
“So I think Arsenal was the club in the hearts of my family so we chose them.”
Arsenal can count themselves lucky that he wasn’t swayed by the advances of their rivals, given the fact that he and few other academy graduates have become the mainstay of the club in recent times.
The Gunners are currently 5th on the Premier League table, and they have young talents such as Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe who have scored 5 and 8 goals respectively to thank for the clubs’ transformation.
