Harry Kane and Antonio Rudiger: Five players who supported Arsenal while growing up
Arsenal is a highly favored team in the Premier League, and they have a fan base of 60,000 who attend every match at the Emirates Stadium.
This has led to many football players supporting Arsenal since their childhood.
Arsenalbrief.football has compiled a list of five players, including Harry Kane and Wilfried Zaha, who are known to have been Arsenal fans since childhood.
Harry Kane
By now, the photo of Harry Kane wearing an Arsenal jersey as a child has become widely known and is often used by Arsenal supporters to taunt Tottenham fans.
However, Kane has consistently claimed that he supported Spurs during his childhood despite the photo evidence. Despite being a member of Arsenal’s academy as a child, he was released from the team when he was just eight years old.
Kane has said that being released was actually a positive thing for him as it motivated him to work harder and prove himself. He has since scored 14 goals against Arsenal in 19 games, which is a testament to how he has used his early rejection as motivation for success.
Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha is regarded as a legendary figure at Crystal Palace, but it was Arsenal who had captured his heart during his younger days. Although there have been rumors linking him to a move to the Emirates in the past, nothing has ever materialized.
“Supporting them and having them wanting you at the same time leaves you thinking, ‘This is amazing’,” Zaha conceded during an interview on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel.
“But things never worked out so you just have to move on. I was thinking this may happen and my family was saying, ‘Wow, it’s Arsenal’, but yeah it just didn’t work out.”
Antonio Rudiger
Antonio Rudiger is closely associated with Chelsea, as he played for the team from 2017 to 2022. However, during his childhood, he was a supporter of Arsenal. He was impressed by two of the club’s legends, which influenced his decision to support them.
“I have been following Arsenal since the days of Henry and Bergkamp,” he said in an interview. The 30-year-old made his Chelsea debut against Arsenal but scored an own goal the next time the teams met.
Fiyako Tomori
Similar to Antonio Rudiger, Thierry Henry was a significant influence on Fikayo Tomori’s admiration for Arsenal. While Tomori was a fan of football in general during his childhood, he had a particular fondness for Arsenal due to his admiration for the legendary Frenchman.
Even though Tomori went on to play for Chelsea, his appreciation for Arsenal and Thierry Henry remains.
“I think [my first football shirt] was a Thierry Henry Arsenal shirt because I loved Thierry Henry,” the centre-back told the Chelsea website.
“My family were Arsenal fans so I was following that at the time. I was just more of a football fan but Henry was my idol.”
Kieran Richardson
Kieran Richardson played for Manchester United during a time when the team was in fierce competition with Arsenal to be the best in England.
Despite this, he has since retired and openly admitted that he supported Arsenal during his younger days. Richardson even plans to purchase a season ticket for Arsenal in the upcoming season, showing his continued support for the club.
“I watch football so much now – I did not watch it much as a footballer – I did not really care,” he told the Steven Sulley Study. “Now as someone not playing, I enjoy being an Arsenal fan – I am buying a season ticket next season.
“I do not think there was a conflict of interests.I am an Arsenal fan but when you play for a club, you are not thinking about Arsenal. Whichever club you are at, that is the team you are riding for.”
Harry Kane and Antonio Rudiger: Five players who supported Arsenal while growing up