There will be some relief amongst Arsenal fans as it now appears that Emile Smith Rowe will be staying at the club.
In recent days the midfielder was linked with a move to Chelsea, in what could have been a disastrous move for Arsenal. The 23-year-old missed most of last season with injury, but is a popular figure at the club and one of Arsenal’s brightest academy graduates.
He is yet to appear in the Premier League this season, raising questions about his future at the club, and Chelsea had him on their list of targets but have now moved for Manchester City midfielder Cole Palmer instead.
In his Caught Offside Daily Briefing, Fabrizio Romano has now claimed that there were never concrete negotiations between the two clubs for Smith Rowe, and Arsenal have no intention to sell the England international.
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“Honestly I’m not aware of concrete negotiations for Emile Smith Rowe,” he claimed.
“Chelsea have been linked with 20 players or more this summer, but behind the scenes they wanted Cole Palmer.
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“Smith Rowe was never top target for Chelsea or close to joining even, because Arsenal trust him and he’s part of Mikel Arteta’s project.”
Smith Rowe is unsellable
Despite his lack of appearances, Smith Rowe is arguably one of a number of players who should not even come into consideration for a sale right now.
The midfielder broke into the team in the 2020-21 season and arguably saved Mikel Arteta’s job, helping turn around the fortunes of the side who had almost hit rock bottom in terms of mood, performances and results.
As a Hale End academy graduate, Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka are almost aligned as the faces of Arteta’s project at the club, and he represents what Arsenal have taken so much pride on in recent years: a young, hungry, highly talented player who has grown up through the ranks to then represent the club on the pitch.
The optics of any sale would be extremely poor, and selling such a talented player to a heated rival in Chelsea would have been completely unjustifiable.