Chris Willock says that Arsenal will always be in his heart despite leaving north London for Benfica last month.
Chris Willock, older brother of Joe, recently signed for Benfica after turning down the chance to stay at Arsenal.
The 19-year-old has been a Gunner his entire life after joining Arsenal’s Hale End academy at the age of just five.
However, in June, the forward decided to sign for the Portuguese champions on a five-year deal taking him up to 2022.
Speaking ahead of Benfica’s Emirates Cup clash against his former team on Saturday, Willock admitted that if he played and scored, he didn’t know whether he could see himself celebrating.
“(Wenger’s) a very good manager, from whom I learnt a lot in training. It will be nice to see him again,” Willock told Portuguese outlet, O Jogo [via Sport Witness].
He continued, “I don’t know (if I’ll celebrate), Arsenal will always be in my heart, I played there for 12 years and grew a lot.
“I chose Benfica for being a top club like Arsenal. They’re at the same level, have great players and are similar.
“I’m not sure about (playing with Benfica’s first team next season), I only think of impressing the manager and people. I’m very happy here.”
As it turned out, Willock didn’t have to make that decision because he didn’t get the chance to score or even play. He remained an unused sub for the match, which Benfica lost 5-2, with goals from Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Alex Iwobi allowing the hosts to sail to a comfortable win.
The teenager also started on the bench for Benfica’s 2pm kick-off against Leipzig on Sunday.
Willock played just 25 minutes in last season’s EFL Cup for Arsenal’s first team and made 20 appearances for their youth side.
Arsenal play Sevilla at 4:20pm on Sunday in their second match of the Emirates Cup.