Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CARABAO CUP HOME IS WHERE YENNARIS!
Harry Kane’s old mate Nico makes emotional return to Arsenal where they both started
NICO YENNARIS will make an emotional return to Arsenal tonight after having to take the long hard road back to the
Emirates.
The Brentford midfielder, 25, grew up in a Gunners-mad family, played in the same Arsenal under-eights team as Harry Kane and is just as determined to make it back to the Premier League. Kane was released by Arsenal as a kid and farmed out on loan by Tottenham before becoming one of the best strikers in the world and winning the World Cup Golden Boot.
“It’s amazing to see what Harry Kane’s gone on to do,” said Yennaris. “It is about getting an opportunity and grabbing it with both hands. That’s what he did and he’s never looked back. “When they let him go, we were so young nobody knew how far we could really go. But I have got so many good memories from my time there and I’ve got no regrets at all.
“I left Arsenal on good terms with the staff and everybody there. “It’s exciting for me. It’s my first time back as a player but I’ve been back as a fan. My dad is a seasonticket holder and I go whenever I can and he’s got a spare ticket. I’m desperate to play.”
Yennaris was at Arsenal for nearly 15 years and made his Premier League debut against Manchester United in 2012. He said: “I’ll never forget coming on against United. I was out on the pitch at half-time, we were losing and Pat Rice just came outside, called me in and said: ‘Nico, you’re coming on.’ I had the mindset of just going out there with nothing to lose, and it went OK.”
That was one of a few false dawns at Arsenal for Yennaris but he will never forget the help his youth coaches and boss Arsene Wenger gave him during those formative years at Arsenal.
“Arsene Wenger had an immense amount of knowledge and the information he could give you, so it was always good to learn from him,” he said.
“He was very easy to talk to, I could go and speak to him and ask him what he thought. I went into his office and said to him: ‘What do I need to do to give myself a chance of getting into your team?’
“My dad gave me the encouragement to go and knock on his door. It took some balls, I guess.
“But the first thing I did was to knock on the fitness guy’s door and he got me started with weights to get me even better.
“In the end, I just felt I needed to take a step away from Arsenal. I went to Brentford, it was a tough decision because I’d have loved to have made a career there.”
Yennaris even had to go to out on loan again at Wycombe to really kick-start his progress at the Bees and is a cornerstone of a Championship team pushing for promotion to the Premier League.
He added: “When you drop down to the lower leagues, it gives you a big reality check. You have to be strong in your attitude and accept you have to work so hard.
“We finished just outside the top six last year and now we are looking to take the next step.”