How Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp is helping Poland star Arkadiusz Milik shake up their rivals at Euro 2016
Dennis Bergkamp is having an influence on Euro 2016 - by advising his protege, Poland’s Arkadiusz Milik, how to score goals.
Former Arsenal player Bergkamp is now back in his native Amsterdam, coaching Milik at Ajax where he started his career.
He has taken the Polish striker, who scored the winning goal to send Northern Ireland out of the tournament, under his wing.
The pair have a special bond and are constantly texting each other, as Milik revealed on the eve of tonight’s quarter-final between Poland and Portugal in Marseille.
“When I joined the club [Ajax] we had a good relationship because I wanted to spend time after training working on my technique,” said Milik. “We had good contact between us.
“We text each other and I send him my greetings from here. Dennis is a special person, a player who had a great career and you can constantly learn from him. I try to take as much as possible from him.”
Fittingly, Milik is an Arsenal fan and has spoken in the past about wanting to play for the Gunners, although he had a trial at Tottenham at the age of 16.
It was reported that they passed up on the chance to sign him for a modest figure and now he is being talked about in the £10m bracket after scoring freely in the Eredivisie last season.
Milik will also play against another of his heroes tonight when he comes face to face with Cristiano Ronaldo.
As a young player growing up in Poland, he watched videos of Ronaldo in his Manchester United days and modelled himself on the Portugal captain.
“I can’t hide the fact that only a few years ago I was trying to learn from Cristiano. He’s one of the world’s best players,” said Milik.
“You need to take inspiration from players like that. He’s an example of hard work - it is not just talent.
"It will be something special for me to play against him and it will be great to meet on the pitch but I will try to focus on my team and not look up at him.”
Milik and his team-mates have already gone further in the Euros than any previous Poland team and they are determined to reach the semi-finals and a showdown against Belgium or Wales, who play in Lille tomorrow.
“Millions of people are watching our progress at home,” added Milik. “We are pleased to have so much support and want to keep it continuing this way.
"We have achieved our mission already, and are capable of beating Portugal. We’ll approach it fully focused and if we do that we have a chance.”