Alexei Rojas Fedorushcenko is a young man with big ambitions. He's just been called up tot he Colombia squad for the upcoming under-20 World Cup in Argentina, and there's one thing on his mind. "We’re here to win," he tells football.london in an exclusive interview. "We’re here to come back with the World Cup title."
The Arsenal goalkeeper is only 17-years-of-age, but as he speaks with a confident maturity, that is, at times, hard to believe. " I’m quite a commanding character, so if you come and watch me play you’ll notice me straight away," he says when asked to describe his style of play.
"I’m loud, I’m always communicating with my team - one of my biggest strengths is communication and making sure we’re well organised so it’s harder for the other team to score. Also I tend to have quite a big impact on the game with my ability with my feet which is obviously a key role for a goalkeeper at Arsenal"
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It's these traits that have seen Rojas highlighted as one of the most promising talents in the Arsenal academy right now. He is not shy about admitting that he hopes to use them in the first team one day. As he seeks to do so, there can be few mentors better than Jack Wilshere. The Gunners' under-18 coach has lived the dream that Rojas is chasing, and he is relishing the possibility of learning from him.
"It’s been great to work with Jack," Rojas says. "He’s a legend of the club. Everybody knows his history, he came through the academy as a youngster and that’s something that all us young players look up to. We know that he’s done what we want to do and it shows that it’s clear for us. He has a lot of experience around that and he’s given us a lot of advice on his journey and what helped him.
"I know he’s a new coach, and he’s done really well and improved a lot this season. I’ve always tried to learn a lot from him to improve my game and make the team better. You see the love that he has for the club and the love that he has for us as a team and it’s great to have him. It’s been great working with Jack and I’m looking forward to doing so next season."
Wilshere and Rojas' similarities don't end at their Hale End roots. The pair are both developing on the job as player and coach respectively.
As Wilshere seeks to improve he is fortunate to have a front row seat to watch one of the best managers across Europe in action. Wilshere has admitted that he is looking to sponge up as much as he can from Mikel Arteta, and it seems the Spaniard's penchant for unorthodox motivational techniques are one of the things that have rubbed off on him.
"In terms of outside of the box ideas they’re definitely there in some pre-match talks," Rojas reveals. "I think they’ve definitely been inspired by Mikel. He’s definitely learning and definitely giving us good motivation and good ideas to help us on the journey.
"I would say he’s a very all-rounded coach in terms of parts of the process being important. It’s not just what we do on the pitch but what we do off it. He’s instilled a lot of key values into us about how we need to act, how we need to be around the training ground, how we need to be around other people."
It's these aspects off the pitch that set aside Arsenal's youngsters from other academy players across the country. Without being prompted Rojas brings up Per Mertesacker's four pillars which put a huge emphasis on creating good people as well as good footballers. For the 17-year-old this has meant focusing not just on what he can do for himself, but for the planet as a whole.
"My first car was an electric car," he says. "I always said to myself that I wanted to get an electric car because the environment has always been an important thing for me. I would say it’s been like that for the last four years or so because I remember, as an under-15 doing a lot of work on sustainability, both internally with the club and something with Octopus Energy (one of Arsenal's sponsors).
"The biggest thing for me why it’s so important is that there’s only one world for us. We have to make sure we do everything we can as individuals, as organisations and as teams to make the least impact that we can and make sure that we’re sustainable for the future."
Thanks to Rojas' influence, Arsenal's famous Hale End facility is now free of single use plastics. All packaging is now also compostable, and recycling is widespreasd.
This kind of long-term thinking is something the 17-year-old seeks to apply on the pitch too. He may be yet to make a senior appearance, but his approach to life on and off the pitch feels like that of someone who has made hundreds.
"It's all about consistency," he says. "For me consistency is about doing the right things all the time regardless of how I’m feeling, regardless of the situation, regardless of any external factors. It’s everything I do. My whole lifestyle, what I do away from the club and the footballing environment, and what I do in the footballing environment. I’ve never been injured and I think that’s down to my lifestyle.
"What I do away from the club is what gives me the ability to be at 100% when I am on the pitch and longevity in the game. What I’ve always heard from the best players is the reason they’re able to play into their late 30s is what they do away from the pitch and how they look after themselves. If anything that’s the biggest ability - keeping on the pitch and being available for training and matches. That’s something I’ve always been able to do.
"Most importantly the work on the pitch and the training session, always trying to be better in every drill and every action. Those small things have a big impact. After doing it for so many years it becomes a habit. That’s what allows me to be consistent. It’s something I want to improve. Every limit I set myself I want to push higher and higher."
It's this in-build motivation that fuels Rojas' ambitions. The youngster is keen to become the second Colombian goalkeeper to play for Arsenal after David Ospina who he highlights as an inspiration. He also has his sights set on making the senior squad for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA. For now though, his focus is firmly on Argentina, where he knows he has the chance to tick one of his many career goals off his list.
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