Bukayo Saka believes leaders Arsenal now have the strength in depth to finally deliver the Premier League title after three seasons of near misses.
Saka, a graduate of the club's famous Hale End Academy, has experienced the hope and then ultimate frustration as the Gunners finished runners-up behind Manchester City (2022/23 and 2023/24) and most recently Liverpool (2024/25).
But Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon took Mikel Arteta's side four points clear at the top of the table, six ahead of Man City and seven clear of Liverpool after a weekend in which all of their expected title rivals, including Chelsea, were beaten.
"I feel like, when you're an Arsenal player, there's just always constant talk about where you're finishing and how you're performing," Saka told Sky Sports in an exclusive interview.
"Sometimes I feel like it's even overanalysed, but this year I feel we're a very strong group and we've got a lot of quality.
"We've suffered a lot of injuries already, but the players that have come in have shown that we can all keep the level at the highest, and that's what it's going to take for us to go all the way.
"I think that's where we've slipped off in a few seasons, but this season we've got that and it's making me really believe we can do it.
"In the past, those types of games like Newcastle away, we’ve never really got a good result, and this year we did (winning 2-1).
"But also I think it’s a bit early to talk about ‘our year’. I've been in the title race for the last three years now and finished second in all of them. Just the understanding from that and what I've learnt is that now is not so important. It's in April, that's when you need to be there and that's where you need to try and be first place.
"Now it's about staying around it, building your momentum and then going on a run of performances."
Arsenal host Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday evening with a place in the EFL Cup quarter-finals up for grabs before heading to promoted Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday, offering Saka a further opportunity to continue his fine run of form and underline his team's credentials.
The 24-year-old marked his 200th appearance for Arsenal with his 100th Premier League goal involvement in the Gunners' Matchweek 7 win over West Ham United.
By doing so at the age of 24 years and 29 days, Saka became the second-youngest to reach 100 goal involvements for Arsenal, after Cesc Fabregas did so in 2011 at 23 years 242 days.
"It's amazing, but I don't know, I feel like I'm always searching for more," Saka said. "I think that is definitely a big milestone, and it's important to me as well because, of course, it's something that is important to me in having a legacy at Arsenal and trying to make history there. I've gone from a boy to a man there."
For now, though, personal milestones come second to team success, and Saka's focus is very much on that.
"I want to help win the biggest of trophies as well in my time at Arsenal," he added. "So that's the next steps.
"We've had a lot of the group together for many years now, and we've been through a lot of ups and downs together, and now we just want to go the next step."