Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka will be licking his lips with excitement after seeing what UEFA have just confirmed about an upcoming Champions League final.
Saka has established himself as one of the best players in the world in recent years, although he’s yet to secure the accolades that reflect this.
The wide forward has been close to winning major silverware on numerous occasions, but has ultimately just fallen short, with a solitary FA Cup all he has to show for his efforts thus far.
While his focus will be on bringing a Premier League title to the Emirates this season, he’ll also be looking ahead to how he can win as many significant trophies as possible in future years.
Wembley has ‘expressed interest’ in hosting the 2029 Champions League final
Arsenal reached the semi-final of the Champions League last season, before being narrowly knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain.
The Gunners are yet to win Europe’s most prestigious competition, and this may be the prize Saka is most keen on getting his hands on.
While the 24-year-old would almost certainly take winning the Champions League at any point in his career, 2029 is shaping up to be a potentially poetic iteration of the competition for him and Arsenal to secure.
According to Ben Jacobs, UEFA have confirmed that Wembley and the Camp Nou have both ‘expressed interest’ in hosting the 2029 Champions League final.
The stadium in north-west London will also face competition from the Dublin Arena in Ireland and the National Stadium of Wales for the match.
Wembley hosted the 2024 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, while the iconic ground also held the match in 2013 and 2011.
A decision on which of the bidding stadiums will be given the 2029 final will be made in September 2026.
The 2029 Champions League final could be poetic for Bukayo Saka if held at Wembley
By 2029, Saka will be 28 and nearing the latter stages of his time at the top of the game.
He may already have won the Champions League with Arsenal, yet this particular final could still hold huge weight on dictating his legacy, if held at Wembley.
The next three finals will be in Budapest, Madrid and Munich, respectively, with none of these venues striking a symbolic chord with Saka and the Gunners.
However, if Arsenal were to reach the pinnacle fixture in club football in 2029, hosted at Wembley, it would be existential for several reasons.
Not only would Saka be given an opportunity for redemption for his penalty miss at Euro 2020, eight years on, he’d also be given an opportunity to win a European trophy in the city he grew up in, for his boyhood club.
This would be poetic for these reasons alone, but this also doesn’t even address the exceptional record Saka has at Wembley generally, which will certainly make him excited if the final is played at Wembley.
It’s simply written in the stars.
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