Arsenal star winger Bukayo Saka revealed that he and his teammates are confident and ready to compete for every trophy, emphasizing, “We’re not scared,” in what seemed like a subtle jab at London rivals Chelsea, Soccernet.football reports.
Chelsea, currently on a run of five straight wins, are unarguably the most in-form team in the Premier League at the moment. They find themselves in 2nd position on the PL standings, just two points behind leaders Liverpool although the Reds have a game in hand.
Despite being close to Liverpool at the top and four points ahead of Arsenal, widely seen as Premier League title contenders, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and players like Levi Colwill and Nicolas Jackson consistently downplay any talk of the Blues being in contention.
Arsenal, having finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the past two seasons, currently sit third in the Premier League, six points behind the leaders. Saka, who was instrumental in Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph in 2020, aims to lead the team in ending their four-year trophy drought this season.
“We’re not scared. The last two seasons we’ve competed for the league and come very close,” he told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview.
“We’re also back in the Champions League – we have some experience there now – so we feel we’re ready to compete for every trophy. We really want to take that next step and try to win something.”
Having experienced the disappointment of narrowly missing out on Premier League glory twice and then losing the European Championships on two occasions as well, Saka opened up on the impact those near misses have had on him.
“It’s horrible, I’ll be honest,” he said. “It’s just that extra fuel for me and extra motivation. I want to get it over the line this season and try to lift the trophy, for sure.
“You work the whole season and you’re so close, you’ve literally got one hand on the trophy, you’re in the final or you’re right there to win the Premier League, or whatever trophy you’re competing for that season, and then you don’t win it… it’s like the whole year’s work… and nothing to show for it.
“I know you can be proud of the season and evolution and development, but that’s why more than ever we want to take the next step and win.”
While it is worthy of note that Saka made no reference to Chelsea during his interview, one cannot help but wonder whether the 23-year-old winger was taking shots at Arsenal’s city rivals for shying away from the pressure of the title race or just simply saying his piece.