Bukayo Saka has offered an insight into the demands of his captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is intent on driving high standards at Arsenal.
The Gunners' youngster has quickly gone from academy prospect to fully-fledged first-team star during a period of ongoing evolution at the club, and has arguably been Arsenal's standout performer so far this season.
But the 19-year-old feels his skipper deserves plenty of credit for his own performances, even though he can sometimes be a hard taskmaster.
“Every time I played with him I've always had so much confidence," Saka told beIN Sports. "Sometimes he would tell you, you would have to pass to him and if you make a mistake then he can be quite angry.
"But the game where I scored my first goal for Arsenal against Frankfurt, before the game he said to me, 'Bukayo, you know you're very good player. If you're there in front of goal and you want to shoot – shoot! I'm not going to say anything.'
"My parents love him so much as well!"
Aubameyang is one of a handful of experienced senior pros guiding Arsenal's latest batch of youth products, while boss Mikel Arteta has shown a clear focus on promoting homegrown players.
Discussing the advice from his manager, Saka added: "He's always telling me how to be one step ahead of the opponents and always try to be proactive instead of reactive.
"That means instead of reacting always being ahead of the game and trying to read where the space is going to be and be there a step earlier so that I can have a bit more time."
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Saka is now an outside chance to make England's squad for this summer's European Championships and is part of the healthy crop of talented youngsters spearheading Arsenal's revival, including Emile Smith Rowe.
"I used to play youth cup with him [Smith Rowe] and he was always the best player on the pitch," Saka added.
"I always thought that he was going to be the one to go and play in the first team before all of us."
