Bolton Wanderers defender Chris Forino grew up in Arsenal country and cannot wait to face the club he supports in the EFL Cup on Wednesday (19:45 BST).
St Lucia international Forino, 24, was born in Islington and lived about five minutes from the Emirates Stadium.
Now the lifelong Arsenal fan hopes to come up against, who he regards as, the best central defenders around – Gabriel and William Saliba.
“Gabriel and Saliba have transformed the club,” Forino told BBC Radio Manchester.
“Attacks win games but defence wins you leagues. Hopefully they can do it in the league, but not on Wednesday.”
Born into a family of Gunners, Forino’s career has taken a different turn as he came through non-league before being taken on by Wycombe Wanderers.
He moved up north to Bolton in the summer and his phone was buzzing once this tie was announced.
Forino’s boyhood hero was Thierry Henry, but with his professional eye, he recognises the quality of Arsenal’s central defensive pairing, especially Frenchman Saliba, who is still only 23.
“The Premier League is a different style of football to League One,” he said.
“But I remember looking at Saliba’s first season a couple of years ago, his breakthrough season, and thinking he’s the pinnacle of what defenders want to be nowadays.”