Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith Rowe admits he looked up to Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla as he was coming through the academy.
Smith Rowe made his senior debut in a midfield including Ozil in 2018 and has gone on to take the German's No. 10 shirt.
"Sometimes the first team players would come down and take some sessions [with the academy] which was good at the time," Smith Rowe said.
"Looking up to them as well – and obviously I've got his [squad] number now – Mesut Ozil, everyone knows how good he is, and I'm seeing him in training and doing the things that he's done, and just to get an opportunity to be on the same pitch was just crazy at the time.
"The intensity was very high. The players that were there, Santi Cazorla, Mesut [Ozil] was there as well. So many crazy players at the time.
“It was a bit surreal to be honest. I couldn't believe I was actually involved in the training session[s] but it was definitely difficult."
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