When Thierry Henry was U19 coach at Arsenal he gave me a lot of advice. His main thing was staying grounded.

A loan wasn't always my first option, but when I heard the Bundesliga and Hoffenheim was an option for me and working with the manager there, it was something I wanted to do.

It was hard to leave my boyhood club Arsenal, it's still my dream to play for Arsenal, but I know I have to put that on hold and go and play abroad to get some experience in Germany.

I just go with the flow, you know.

You need to shoot to score the goal. If it goes wide, you just need to keep going and keep your head up.

You can have a bad pass or a bad shot, but you need to do this to take the risk.

That's the thing with football: you have some good games, you have some bad games but the main thing is that you go back, you recap and next week you're ready to fight again. That's the main thing.

It's a great feeling to have a lot of big characters in the team who are willing to help the younger players come through and help them do well.

If I wasn't aiming to break into the Arsenal first team, that wouldn't be the correct mindset.

I go bowling, but I'm not very good!

A lot of kids, when they get to 18 or 19, they start getting flashy and forgetting about the real basics of being a professional footballer.

Adam Szalai and Kerem Demirbay always keep an eye on me and make sure I'm doing the right things.

I need to just keep training hard and getting all the information from the coaches and the players.

Unai's very positive and always telling you to express yourself, but also he's got that thing where he'll tell you if you do something wrong.

I think that's good for a coach to have two sides: the jokey side and the fiery side.

For me, it's just about playing - getting the game time you need to prove to everyone you can play at that high level.

It's a different style the way the German players play. I think the English players like to play a lot of one and two touch and we can find each other in the pockets.

Mesut's been talking to me and really helping me through the games.

I just look ahead to the next match. I just want to keep going and not look too far ahead.

I want to keep doing what I'm doing and, if I do get the opportunity to play for the first team I will give everything.

I'm liking the Bundesliga. There's a lot of top, top defenders that you come across.

I always try to be positive but not expect too much of myself, just have a nice balance.

Once you're a young player and you're getting an opportunity to play, I think if you're good enough, it just gives you the confidence to go on.

The main thing for me is getting in the starting eleven and making an impact whenever I can come on.

I went away in Germany and I think I did well. But the main goal for me has always been playing in an Arsenal shirt week in, week out.

For me, I just want to take things as they come.

Being involved with the first team, be it in the Premier League or the Europa League, you just have to take it as it comes. You keep all the nerves inside and just play your normal game.

I was nine years old, I used to play for a team in Catford. I would get up every morning with my brother, get on the train and travel to Catford three times a week.

It was different coming from Hale End to London Colney. The coaching is so much different and the environment - you've got loads of first team players and world-class players there.

Alex Iwobi has really helped me.

Street football is very important.