Bukayo Saka believes “this is the year” Arsenal end their series of near misses and win a major trophy.
The Gunners have finished as runners-up to Manchester City in the Premier League in each of the last two seasons and have not won a cup competition since claiming the FA Cup in 2020.
They are continuing to develop under Mikel Arteta, however, as shown again last night with a convincing 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
England winger Saka, who captained Arsenal in Martin Odegaard’s absence last night, is confident success is just around the corner.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on us, but I do think this is the year,” Saka told CBS Sports. “We’ve been close the last two years and we’re getting closer.
“This season, there’s a lot of hunger in my belly. Previous years, I’ve come runner-up a lot. It’s just that spirit in me that I want to win this season and of course, I believe in myself a lot. With those two things, it helps.
“We believe in ourselves, we believe we’re a top team. We showed that tonight [against PSG]. I did tell the boys we have to make a statement when big teams are coming to the Emirates.”
Making our mark in the Champions League ✨ pic.twitter.com/9IVG93mM1P
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 1, 2024
Heading in the right direction – Arteta
Arteta felt Saka’s confidence was another sign the club are on the right trajectory.
He said: “The players feel that we are in the right direction, and they believe in what we do. It’s a great sign, it’s a night to be really happy because we played one of the best teams in the world. To be able to perform and win in the way we did, it’s a really good sign for the team.
“That belief is something that lifts the energy and the spirit of everybody. First of all it’s about believing you can face those incredible teams and have a really good chance to beat them, and you are good enough to beat them. I think it’s going to be really helpful.
Kai Havertz scored the opener against PSG and Saka got the second himself, his free-kick from the right flank evading everyone on its way into the net.
Arteta added: “I think we showed a lot of maturity in the way we played and we put our stamp on the way that we want to behave in Europe against top teams and I really like that.”
