“Why I decided to extend my time at the club”

Bukayo Saka revealed that one of the main reasons he opted to extend his stay in north London is because he feels the club have everything he needs to reach his enormous potential.

The Hale End product has ended speculation about his future by signing a new contract with us, lengthening his association with a team he has been a part of since he was eight years old.

From that moment, a talented youngster has blossomed into one of the hottest prospects in world football, and he fully believes that he is at the perfect place to continue progressing as he aims to maximise his talents in our famous red and white.

Speaking after signing his new deal, he said: “I’m just really happy. There’s been a lot of talking and it’s been a while, but I’m here now. I think this is the right club, the right place to make the next step. It’s a beautiful club – look where we are.

“For me, it’s about achieving my personal ambitions; how much I push myself and demand from myself each game, week in, week out. Then I have all the right people around me in terms of family, and when I come to the training ground, my teammates, the coaching staff.

“I think I have everything I need to become the best player I can be, and that’s why I’m happy to stay here and be here for the future, because I really believe that we can achieve big things.”

Bukayo has come a long way since making his debut in November 2018, but so has his club. The two have helped each other develop during that time, to the point now where we have achieved our goal of returning to the Champions League, handing Bukayo a chance to experience playing in Europe’s premier club competition in the process.

The progression has been gradual, but ultimately has seen us become a challenger for the Premier League title again. As one of a number of young, ambitious players in our squad with their best years still to come, Bukayo is adamant that even better things are on the horizon.

Reflecting on the past and looking to the future, he added: “I have seen a lot of change. I’ve seen this team and the club grow, and one thing that everyone around us can be excited about is that we are going in the right direction.

“Time is on our side. You can look at our team and a lot of the players are young. We’re hungry, and a lot of us haven’t won trophies at Arsenal so we want to achieve big things. If you watch the way we all speak, we want to win and we want to win here.

“It’s been too long since this club has had Champions League football. I’m really looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday nights in this stadium, the atmosphere is going to be special.”

Emirates Stadium is sure to be rocking when that famous pre-match operatic music returns, especially after our supporters made a name for themselves throughout the game this season for their vocal backing from the stands.

Bukayo admits he feels the love from every Gooner he comes across, and he can’t wait to continue playing in front of them for many more years to come.

“The fans have been so crazy, they’ve been so good this year,” he smiled. “Even when I see them out, we have so much in common in terms of how passionate we are for this team. Sometimes I feel like some of these fans can play the game, that’s how passionate they are.

“They would give everything; I can see it in their eyes when they’re speaking to me. It’s really nice to see that. I feel like we are all really connecting with the fans more and you can feel it in the stadium as well.”