Bukayo Saka welcomed back to Arsenal with wall of letters following Euro 2020 racist abuse with England
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Published 04/08/2021 at 12:30 GMT
Bukayo Saka was met with a surprise on his return to Arsenal's London Colney training ground. The 19-year-old, who was one of three players subjected to online racist abuse following their inability to score in England's penalty shootout defeat to Italy at Euro 2020, was lost for words as he saw a wall of letters of support from fans.
Bukayo Saka
Image credit: Getty Images
Bukayo Saka was left speechless on his return to Arsenal as the club surprised him with a wall of letters from fans showing their love and support for him.
Saka, 19, was part of the England side that made the final of Euro 2020 this summer.
He was also one of three players, along with Marcus Rashford and Jason Sancho, to be subjected to racial abuse online after missing a penalty in the shootout defeat to Italy.
He has been on holiday since the result but made an emotional return to his club on Wednesday.
As he walked across the training pitch at London Colney he saw a wall of letters and gifts from fans, including cards, flags and teddy bears.
“Oh my gosh,” was his initial reaction before he started reading through the messages of support.
“How do I even say thank you for this? Can I just pick it all up and take it home?” he added.
Saka will be aiming to be a part of Arsenal’s squad when they face Brentford in their opening game of the 2021/22 Premier League season on August 13.
After receiving racist abuse following the final of the Euros, Saka called on social media companies to do more.
"To the social media platforms @instagram @twitter @facebook I don’t want any child or adult to have to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that me Marcus and Jadon have received this week. I knew instantly the kind of hate that I was about to receive and that is a sad reality that your powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages.
"There is no place for racism or hate of any kind in football or in any area of society and to the majority of people coming together to call out the people sending these messages, by taking action and reporting these comments to the police and by driving out the hate by being kind to one another, we will win.”
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