Emile Smith Rowe has eight-game Arsenal lifeline as Arteta decision forced

Arsenal news - Emile Smith Rowe has reached a huge crossroads in his Gunners career with Mikel Arteta facing a major squad rotation dilemma that could benefit him

Emile Smith Rowe appears set for one of the biggest months in his Arsenal career. Injuries have plagued the 23-year-old in the last 18 months which resulted in no Premier League stars during the 2022/23 campaign with Mikel Arteta frequently preferring other attacking options which left Smith Rowe significantly down the pecking order.

In a press conference, he said: "Yes. The role [for him is] like everybody else does. To try to give his best and make the team better. "Obviously, I had a conversation with him and it's important to understand where he is. It was always going to be tricky the first three or four weeks.

"Not just for us, but for all of the clubs where you see all the rumours and all the players who are not playing, they are unhappy not just in this country but in every country. We have just one game per week for a month. Everyone comes to the new season with huge aspirations and there are not minutes for everybody and September will be very different."

As Arteta alludes to, very soon Arsenal will be in action every 3-4 days and those will be the moments when his squad is severely tested. Strength in depth was a significant issue last season and it ultimately led to the title collapse, but the Gunners have strengthened and now look to have a group capable of playing in a number of competitions.

With the international break pausing the domestic season, Arsenal have only played one game in the month of September. And yet despite the halfway point of the month about to be passed, Arsenal have five games in the next 15 days in three different competitions.