The summer signing will be desperate to get one over on his old club this weekend

Brooke Norton-Cuffy will make his first return to Arsenal on Saturday since leaving the club a little over two years ago, and says he has a lot to be thankful to the Gunners for after spending more than a decade with the North London club.

The England Under-21 international will be a part of Sergej Jakirovic's Hull City squad that arrives at the Emirates looking to cause arguably the Premier League's biggest shock so far this season, after sealing a move back to England on deadline day at the beginning of September.

London-born Norton-Cuffy was at Arsenal from the age of 10 before leaving to join Serie A side Genoa in the summer of 2024, and credits the champions with turning him into a man. Though there will be some familiar faces at the Emirates, he says his focus will be on securing what would be a significant three points for his side.

"I look back at my time at Arsenal with fond memories," the 22-year-old mused. "I was at Arsenal since I was 10, left at the age of 20, and had a few loan spells. I learned a lot; I went from a boy to a man there, so just fond memories really. There will be a lot of familiar faces, but it's the same with football; you always see familiar faces, so for me it's another game."

Though he won't be involved because of injury, Bukayo Saka was a key figure for Norton-Cuffy and other members of the academy growing up, and following in his footsteps.

"Bukayo's someone I think all of the academy boys used to look up to; he's done so well with his career and he's just hit amazing heights, so yeah, one hundred per cent he's someone that we used to look up to."

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The Gunners ended their long wait for a Premier League title last season under Mikel Arteta, and went top of the league on Sunday after a gritty 1-0 win at Liverpool, before securing a 2-1 win in the Champions League at Sparta Prague on Wednesday to remain unbeaten.

While everybody will be writing off the Tigers and giving them next to no hope of getting anything at the Emirates, Norton-Cuffy is bullish about their hopes of catching Arsenal on an off day, especially after their European adventures this week.

"Well, they won the league last season, so they're probably the best team in the league at the moment as well, so it will be a difficult game," he confessed. "They will have a lot of the ball, and they will cause us problems, but I think we set up to go into every game to try and win it. They're humans at the end of the day; it's a game of football.

"I don't want to give too much away, but there are 11 men on the pitch. I know our team's always gonna be on the front foot, aggressive, and try and win football games. I think that's our DNA, and that's what we've shown throughout the season, and we're gonna go to Arsenal; it's not really gonna change."

As for the start to life back in England after two years in Italy, the defender is content with how things are going after an injury-hit beginning to his latest adventure.

"It's been good, I'm enjoying every moment, I feel like I'm settling in to Hull, the city, the team and everything else, so I've found it good so far," added the full-back.