Emile Smith Rowe has dominated the back pages with a recent bid from Fulham recently rejected, after Arsenal deemed the price not good enough. Fulham placed a reported bid of £25 million for Smith Rowe, but it is believed that Arsenal wants at least £40 million. Following the big money sale of Michael Olise to Bayern Munich, Crystal Palace certainly has some good cash in their coffers and according to transfer news guru, Fabrizio Romano, the Eagles have placed a bid of around £35 million for Smith Rowe.
Smith Rowe started only four games last season, totaling a meager 504 minutes of football. To put it in context, William Saliba had 5,015 of competitive football in the same campaign. In the 2021/22 campaign where the youngster played the most minutes, he featuring predominantly on the left wing, and that was aided with the fact that Gabriel Martinelli suffered a long term injury. Smith Rowe contributed with 11 goals and he couldn’t build on it with his plethora of injuries that derailed his progress.
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have since moved on, with the games very hard to come by for Smith Rowe due to the vast array of talent available at the club’s disposal. The left wing has the likes of Leandro Trossard, Martinelli and even Gabriel Jesus, while the left 8 position has Kai Havertz, and when he moves up top, Declan Rice plays alongside Thomas Partey or Jorginho. Smith Rowe even contends for playing time with Fabio Vieira, another underutilized talent at the club.
I really hope Arsenal cashes in on Smith Rowe for the reported £40 million because it’s evident that he no longer has a future with the club. Despite the fact that he’s a very talented footballer, he has clearly lost the trust of his manager and he’s better off plying his trade elsewhere. In clubs like Crystal Palace or Fulham, I believe he will be good enough to be a starter, so it’s down to the clubs to show if they really want him. I don’t think Arsenal’s asking price is that much.
Let’s see how the situation plays out.
Sayonara.
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