Bournemouth striker Benik Afobe says there will be "no friends" when he goes up against his boyhood club Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.
Afobe, 22, came up through the youth ranks at Arsenal but was not given a chance in the first team by manager Arsene Wenger, and the striker could come back to haunt his former team when he plays them for the first time this weekend.
The former England under-21 international said he owes Arsenal a lot for helping his development, but that it was the club's decision to let him go and he will not have any split loyalties against them.
"On Sunday I've got a job to do for my club here and there will be no friends," Afobe said in The Guardian. "I don't hold any grudges. I've already scored three goals in my last three games so I've got nothing to prove to Arsenal.
"It was their decision to sell me and I've moved on. It's been years now. I've got great friends there, I've got nothing bad to say about them as a club. I would've liked to have got my chance but it didn't happen."
Afobe was a prolific scorer for Arsenal's U18s but never broke into the first team and spent several years out on loan before being sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported £2 million fee.
His value soared to a reported £10m when Bournemouth signed him in January after he scored 23 goals in 48 appearances for Wolves.
Under Cherries boss Eddie Howe, Afobe has scored three goals in the team's last three league games.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are scoreless during that same stretch and Afobe could heap more misery on Wenger if he further dents Arsenal's faltering title push.
Afobe credited Arsenal with helping hone his technical skills, but said his goal-scoring ability is "instinctive" rather than taught.
And having seen how the Arsenal strike force missed several chances in a 0-0 draw against Southampton on Tuesday to slip to fourth in the Premier League, Afobe said he is confident he could have helped the team if they had kept him.
"That's not how life works. Not everything can go your way. I believe I would've scored goals for them, but I'm not there any more and I don't hold any grudges. I'm here in the Premier League scoring winners at Selhurst Park, so I'm enjoying it and I want to keep improving," Afobe said.
"This run is down to the boys giving me confidence before I even kicked a ball, self-belief and the manager believing in me. When you play for a manager who believes in you it gives you another 10-15 percent. The manager believes in me, the team believes in me. I'm just trying to improve. But when I came here I knew I was ready to make the step up."