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Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah has revealed his motivation for European silverware with the Gunners.
THE LATEST: EUROPEAN RUN
Nketiah made his first-team debut for Arsenal in the Europa League as a very late substitute back in September 2017 aged 18 away to BATE Borisov. Since then, he has scored five times from 14 starts, making him his side’s joint-top scorer in European football in the current squad.
Arsenal and Nketiah have been firing on all cylinders this season. They are currently top of the Premier League standings and have reached the knockout round of the Europa after finishing top of their group.
In a lengthy interview with the Arsenal media, the English youngster spoke on Arsenal’s run in Europe and the motivation for success with the side.
THE LATEST: MOTIVATION
Striker Eddie Nketiah has opened up on his hunger and motivation to see Arsenal claim European success.
Arsenal have suffered heartbreak in four European finals since winning the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1994. So being back in the Europa League this season after a year’s absence represents a huge opportunity, Eddie believes, for the current group of players to write their names into club folklore.
“Definitely, that’s a big motivation for us this season,” he said in an interview with the club’s website.
“We want to bring back European success here. Of course, we can only look at the next step, but definitely, our aim is to win the trophy this year. We have the quality and the players to do so, and we’re working hard every day to achieve that.”
“For sure we all missed playing in European football last season,” he adds, “I know I certainly did. It gives you more games, more game time, but mainly it’s a great feeling to test yourself against European teams and different defences.
The striker went on to add that he hopes to see Arsenal back in the UEFA Champions League next season.
“It’s a competition that we’ve always taken seriously, it’s great to be back and hopefully we can have another good run this year and go all the way.”
“Hopefully we can use that to get back in the Champions League next season because that’s where we all want to be. Hopefully, this year can be the year when we get back there because it has been too long. Also for the supporters, because it’s what they deserve, watching Champions League football, and it would be great to bring that back to the Emirates.
“The atmosphere has been amazing all season for us, so it would be just sensational to bring that to the Champions League. We could make the Emirates a real fortress.
THE VERDICT: ABOUT TIME
Arsenal have always gone far in the Europa League but have not been able to get their hands on the trophy. It is going to be a long season but Nketiah and the Gunners can continue to dream.
