Mikel Arteta already has perfect Kai Havertz alternative he can unleash at Arsenal next season

2023 has not been easy for Emile Smith Rowe. The 22-year-old was second only to Bukayo Saka in Arsenal's scoring charts in the 2021/22 season but followed that up with a campaign in which he did not start a single match in any competition.

There are plenty of mitigating factors for this. First among these is of course injuries. 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 stunted his comeback.

For the last few months of the season though, the Hale Ender 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. Even in games where Arsenal were comfortable he was ignored. As Arsenal took a three-goal lead at home to Leeds, Arteta opted to go bring on Saka — who had been struggling with illness and not trained the day prior — instead of Smith Rowe. Unsurprisingly rumours of a potential exit began to circulate not long after, but Arteta is adamant that he wants the man who arguably kicked his project at Arsenal into life to stay.

«He knows how much we love him and he knows how much we missed him and how much we need his qualities,” the Spaniard told football.london in March . It's understood that a conversation was had at the end of this season to remind Smith Rowe of