Arsenal U18 player Daniel Oyetunde grew up in the Waltham Abbey area near Enfield. When he was younger I’d constantly pester his Nigerian dad to take him to the park to play football and practise. From here sparked the fire that has kept burning till date.
While noting that football brings an underlying peace that allows him to express himself using my feet, the forward is gradually becoming the focus of the Arsenal young guns (U18 team) and on the way to bigger things.
Yet, his path did start with Arsenal. He was rooting for Chelsea.
“I have to admit I’ve been a Chelsea supporter my whole life and my earliest football memory was the 2012 Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona where Torres scored that goal. It’s an iconic moment given that we went on to win the Champions League. As a Chelsea fan and striker, I looked up to the likes of Didier Drogba – he was such a brilliant striker and a big-game player who will always be remembered for his clutch goals. However, I also watched a lot of Thierry Henry’s highlights and was just amazed at how good he was in his prime. I try to mould my game on both Drogba and Henry.
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“At the age of six, I joined my first Sunday League team in my local area and I also played up front for my school team. I enjoyed my time in the Sunday Leagues because it allowed me to grow and develop as a player.”
Then, he went to Tottenham his first trial and was rejected. Next, in line came Arsenal and he was successful.
“My first Arsenal goal came against Tottenham, who hadn’t offered me a contract two years prior. The move to Arsenal came about when I was in Year 9. I’d been playing for Cheshunt FC and we won the league that season with me scoring plenty of goals – what a great season that was! After that, I had a few academies interested in seeing me play, including Arsenal. They offered to let me train with one of the scouts in a one-on-one session and then I started an eight-week trial with Arsenal under-15s in time for their pre-season.