Szczęsny: It still hurts that I didn't win the title with Arsenal

Barcelona's veteran goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny has admitted it "still hurts" to have missed out on winning the Premier League title during his time at Arsenal. Szczęsny, who is in Birmingham for pre-season with Barça, is nevertheless grateful to have finally seen his former club end their championship drought in the 2025-26 season.

"I suffered a lot during the Champions League final," Szczęsny told The Athletic, referring to Arsenal's penalty shootout loss to Paris Saint-Germain on May 30. "But to win the Premier League after 22 years... It's a huge relief because I waited a very long time for it, and I'm very happy that they've built a project that is probably one of the best clubs in Europe."

Szczęsny joined the Gunners as a teenager in 2006 and made 181 appearances during his 10-year spell at the club. In the 2013-14 season, Arsenal led the table for longer than any other team but faltered and dropped out of the race in late March. That same campaign, Szczęsny shared the Golden Glove award with Petr Čech.

"When I was there, we had one season where we were top of the league for a very long time, but we lost it at the end. I felt we were the best team in the league. But we were a very young, inexperienced team, and in the end, when it mattered most, we fell short. It still hurts because it's the only trophy I haven't won in professional football, and I would have loved... to win the Premier League with Arsenal. It still eats at me, but as a fan, I'm very happy with what happened this year," the goalkeeper recalled.

"Arsenal is where I made my dream come true. Emotionally, it's the most I believe anyone can achieve: playing for your dream club. I achieved that dream. It's the pinnacle of your career. A beautiful story, even though I only won three trophies with Arsenal: two FA Cups and one Community Shield. That will probably always be the most beautiful part of my career. The one filled with the most passion. It was also the beginning of my career. I was very hungry, very determined to show people I belonged at that level," he shared.

Szczęsny retired from football in August 2024 after a long spell at Juventus, but signed for the Spanish giants two months later after first-choice goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen suffered a season-ending injury.

"When I stopped, I didn't want to play football anymore. I had somehow become alienated from the game. I no longer enjoyed playing. I didn't enjoy getting up for training. I had one more year on my contract with Juventus, which at one point they couldn't afford. We decided to part ways, and I wasn't ready for any challenge. I didn't want to change countries, move to other clubs, look for new schools for the kids, and find a new place. It was an easy decision (to retire) for me and my family. When you reach a certain stage in your life, family actually comes before football. Now I'm living one of the best periods of my career and enjoying every minute," the Pole said candidly.

Szczęsny also spoke about his smoking addiction: "I've never pretended to be a perfect person. It might not seem professional, but I am who I am. People know I have an addiction that I can't get rid of. People can follow me because I talk openly about it. I would absolutely not advise anyone to start smoking. I find it terrible and everyone should avoid it. It's one of my weaknesses, I admit it."