The Gunners have been heavily linked with Chelsea's Kai Havertz recently but Emile Smith Rowe could be the man Mikel Arteta needs to help achieve his Arsenal dreams
It's been a tough year for Emile Smith Rowe. The Hale Ender was Arsenal's second highest scorer behind Bukayo Saka in 2021/22, but failed to start a single match in any competition in 2022/23.
There were a myriad of reasons for this. The primary one is of course his injury. Smith Rowe had been struggling with pain from a groin injury since his teen years and finally took the decision to get it sorted once and for all with surgery at the start of this season. That would ultimately rule him out for five months, before a series of false starts around the New Year saw his progress disrupted further.
For the last few months of the season though, the 23-year-old was back fully fit and pain free. He lost weight, was impressing in training and set personal bests for his physicality. Still though his wait for a route back in to the Arsenal first team would continue.
Despite the Gunners struggles in games against West Ham, Southampton and Nottingham Forest, Mikel Arteta continued to overlook one of his most threatening attacking options. Unsurprisingly rumours of a potential exit began to circulate not long after, but Arteta is adamant that he wants Smith Rowe to stay.
Still though, his wait for an opportunity continues. With Arsenal continually being linked to the likes Kai Havertz there is a concern that Smith Rowe could have to wait even longer. Now though, the 22-year-old has the chance to remind everyone just how good a player he really is.
Smith Rowe has been called up to Lee Carsley's England under-21s squad for the Euros later this month. The Hale Ender scored on his second to last appearance for the Young Lions and is expected to play a key role in Georgia and Romania.
Throughout the difficult period towards the end of this season, one of the factors that has motivated Smith Rowe to produce consistently excellent performances in training is the under-21 Euros. He's targeting it as a chance to remind the world of the player who burst on to the scene on Boxing Day of 2020 against Chelsea and arguably turned Arsenal's fortunes around.