Arsenal could make another Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane mistake with Emile Smith Rowe and regret it
Selling players has been relatively easy for Mikel Arteta, until now.
The Arsenal manager’s squad turnover since his 2019 appointment has been rather straightforward, dispatching of underperforming high-earners and replacing them with exactly the opposite.
Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Matteo Guendouzi have all been turfed out of the Emirates under Arteta’s stewardship, and there won’t be any regret in the manager’s office.
Simultaneously, top young talent has been retained, with Bukayo Saka and William Saliba among the names to commit their futures to the club amid interest from the world’s best sides.
There is one caveat, though, and that appears to be Emile Smith Rowe, who has reportedly been offered to other Premier League clubs, with Chelsea interested.
An academy graduate who looked set for as bright a future as Saka, the 23-year-old’s minutes have dwindled in recent seasons.
Despite impressing at the summer U21 Euros for England, Smith Rowe has played just three minutes for Arsenal this season.
His path into the first team was already a tricky one with Gabriel Martinelli in the way, but further roadblocks in the shape of Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard mean that a sale now may make plenty of sense for Arsenal.
Injuries haven't helped. However, as history shows, selling Hale End graduates hasn’t always worked out for the Gunners.
It seems unfathomable that Cole didn’t show enough at Arsenal to at least hint at his future as an unstoppable goalscorer, but a club record £500,000 offer from Bristol City in 1992 proved too much to turn down.
That ended Cole’s stint as an Arsenal youth team player, having signed as a professional in 1989. He made two appearances for the first team and eventually joined Newcastle in
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