Arsenal playmaker Emile Smith Rowe was widely considered as the heir to Mesut Ozil at the Emirates. He was even handed the German legend’s jersey number and was expected to become a crucial cog in Mikel Arteta’s team.
As luck may have it though, Smith Rowe suffered a serious injury at the wrong time which made him miss more than a year of football and he has since been unable to break into Mikel Arteta’s impressive starting XI.
The likes of Mikel Odegaard took the English youngster’s place during his absence and has not looked back. The Norwegian is now Arsenal’s first captain whilst the 23-year-old finds himself in oblivion.
Despite Mikel Arteta openly admitting that he ‘loved’ Smith Rowe as a player, the Spanish tactician hasn’t been able to give him many opportunities. The midfield is stacked with Odegaard, Declan Rice, Fabio Viera, Jorginho, Thomas Partey, and even Kai Havertz, giving the 23-year-old almost no chance.
At his age, what he needs is regular football and that is unlikely to happen at Arsenal. As per journalist David Ornstein, Fulham are closing in on signing Emile Smith Rowe in what will be a club-record transfer.
The journalist adds that the value of the transfer could be up to £35m. The clubs have agreed on the valuation and the transfer is expected to be completed pending medicals and document verification. Smith Rower currently earns £40,000 per week at Arsenal and it remains to be seen if he takes a pay cut to join Fulham.
Fulham have managed to pull off a coup in the transfer market as the 23-year-old Englishman has what it takes to play for a top Premier League club. He might be looking to use the Cottagers as his springboard in a faltering career.
Arsenal fans love Smith Rowe and would love to have seen him succeed in a Gunners shirt. However, not all things pan out as expected. Who knows, maybe the 23-year-old could find his best form and return to the Emirates someday!
