Arsenal to accept £30m Emile Smith Rowe bid – sources
Arsenal will accept a bid of £30million to sell Emile Smith Rowe this summer after a season on the sidelines under Mikel Arteta.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, senior correspondent Pete O’Rourke revealed that Fulham have registered their interest in signing the 23-year-old on a permanent deal.
Arsenal are looking to offload several fringe players to raise funds and bolster their transfer budget, with Smith Rowe among their most sellable assets.
Sources also say the Gunners will look to sign a new wide forward which would push the academy graduate further down the pecking order.
Arsenal will accept £30million bid for Emile Smith Rowe amid Fulham interest
Smith Rowe joined the Arsenal academy aged nine, making his senior debut at just 18, and has now played 115 games for his boyhood club.
In that time, the attacking midfielder has scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists, but injuries and a lack of first-team opportunities have seen his career stall in recent years.
Having signed a new long-term deal in 2021, his current contract is set to run until 2026.
However, with just 19 appearances last season, and only four of those coming from the start, he has fallen out of the first-team plans under Arteta.
Smith Rowe’s breakthrough season came in 2021/22 as he featured 37 times, scoring 11 goals and providing two assists.
Interested sides will be hoping he can recreate that form if he is afforded regular playing time, with a £30million fee representing a fraction of what his price tag would have been two years ago.
Arsenal are looking to go one better in the Premier League than their back-to-back second-placed finishes, with new recruits lined up to bolster their squad.
Football Insider revealed on 4 June that offers for Smith Rowe will be considered by the club, with home-grown players the focus of their summer sales as they look to raise funds before they spend.
In other news, Thomas Partey is closing in on a move away from Arsenal.
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