In 2023-2024 season, Emile Smith Rowe played three matches for Arsenal. So, a transfer move away from Arsenal is the suitable option for him.
What happened between Arsenal and Smith Rowe?
Despite being linked with teams like West Ham, Fulham, Emile Smith Rowe changed his mind before the pre-season. His actions were making it clear that he will not be leaving Arsenal and he wanted to stay and fight for his place at the North London club.
Multiple reports were claiming that the young English midfielder started his pre-season training before the entire Arsenal squad. For the pre-season training Mikel Arteta took players like Jurien Timber, Ben White, Fabio Viera to Mallorca. But Smith Rowe joined the pre-season camp one week before them. This action clarifies the intention of the young midfielder. He wanted to train as much as possible to be in his best possible shape.
As the pre-season games started, things didn’t go well for the young Englishman. It seems that Arsenal have decided to sell him. According to football.london, Arsenal have set a price tag of £35m for Emile Smith Rowe.
Few days ago Arsenal played their first pre-season game against another Premier League side Bournemouth where Mikel Arteta benched Emile Smith Rowe. In that game, the Gunners drew with the Cherries. So, the game was extended to tie-breaker where Arsenal defeated Bournemouth with a score line of 5-4.
Arsenal didn’t give Smith Row a chance to play his last game for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s opinion on the player
Last season when Emile Smith Rowe featured in a victory over Luton Town, Mikel said,
‘I love him as a player, he is a joy to watch. How he moves, changes direction and how physical he was today without the ball. He went into duels and won a lot of them.‘
This statement depicts the qualities and attributes of the young Englishman. He is certainly a goalscoring threat for any team. When Mikel Arteta was building a new project at Arsenal, players like Emile Smith Rowe, Buakyo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock were the revelations for the gunners. Few of them made a permanent place in the first team.
Recently Arsenal have signed a lot players for the midfield position and they are performing well. For these reasons the homegrown talents are falling down in the pecking order.
Once the English midfielder used to be the main man for Mikel’s Arsenal. He featured in big games for the gunners. He helped them to win the FA cup. Now he struggles to get playing time under Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard is well aware of the talent he posses. Any team will never want to loose a homegrown talent like Smith Rowe. So, next season we can see him in a new role for the gunners.
Smith Rowe’s next destination
After Lewis Brown, Arsenal is losing another academy graduate to a Premier League rival because Emile Smith Rowe is going to join West London club Fulham. When Arsenal decided to sell the young Englishman, Crystal Palace were also interested in the player.
Fulham proposed an offer which was slightly better than Crystal Palace. Multiple reports are claiming that the accepted bid is around the region of £35m. Recently Fulham have signed former Spurs Left Back Ryan Sessegnon on a two-year deal. If Fulham can also sign Emile Smith Rowe, they will certainly have a strong attacking force.
It is certain that Arsenal is losing a quality player. Previously, they made the same mistake by selling Serge Gnabry, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain because they became stars after leaving Arsenal. The decision to sell Emile Smith Rowe can certainly backfire at Arsenal.
The entire Premier League know the ability of a player like Emile Smith Rowe. That is why teams like Fulham and Crystal Palace competed to sign the player.
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