Arsenal are expected to have a busy week as deadline day approaches, with significant change anticipated according to new revelations.
Mikel Arteta and Edu have welcomed four new players this summer, including the club record-breaking deal to bring Declan Rice to the club for a fee in the region of £105m.
Following the injury blow to Jurrien Timber and the departure of Kieran Tierney on loan, it will be interesting to see how the squad at the Emirates shapes up for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign, with some players suspected to depart.
Who could Arsenal sell this summer?
After Tierney’s departure on loan to Real Sociedad, Rob Holding is the next suspect expected to leave Arsenal, with the Englishman receiving interest from a host of clubs, as relayed by Fabrizio Romano.
While Holding’s exit was somewhat anticipated, worrying news has emerged regarding the future of one of the club’s cherished academy graduates.
Read the latest Arsenal transfer news HERE…
According to journalist Simon Phillips, the Gunners are ‘willing’ to sanction a sale for Emile Smith-Rowe, who has reportedly been approached by London rivals Chelsea.
Valued around £12m by FootballTransfers, the 23-year-old gem is of interest to the west Londoners, whom he had a trial with at a young age.
Should Arsenal sell Emile Smith-Rowe?
Selling a talent as prominent as Smith-Rowe should not be considered, especially when taking into the consideration of the club interested in his services.
Allowing a youth product to depart to a direct rival could be detrimental to Arsenal’s academy, with added reference of the pending sale of fellow Hale End graduate Folarin Balogun.
In the 2021/22 Premier League campaign, Smith-Rowe’s emergence became the forefront of success at the Emirates, as the dazzling midfielder netted 10 goals and registered two assists in a season that earned him 33 appearances, via Transfermarkt.
Since then, the Croydon-born whiz has made 12 appearances in the league due to injury and falling down the pecking order in Arteta’s plans.
Once lauded as being the “difference-maker” by former Gunners attacking maestro Mesut Ozil, the no.10 has the ability to repeat history in north London, and not in a positive way for Arsenal.
When Cesc Fabregas was sold to Barcelona in 2011, no one would have expected to see the midfielder arrive back in the capital three years later.
Having seen the Spaniard's talent nurtured in north London, only for him to represent but also succeed at Chelsea was a series of events that shouldn’t be replicated, however, could be if Arsenal sanctioned the sale of Smith-Rowe to the Blues.
When revising the rise to fame of Hale End graduate Bukayo Saka, the motive is there for Arteta to reintegrate the reported Chelsea target back into his side, with those at the Emirates seeing first-hand the quality he can provide.
Representing his boyhood club since the age of 10, Smith-Rowe could follow in the footsteps of Saka’s north London fairytale, which was projected when he was handed the no.10 shirt and penned an extended deal.
On the other hand, Arsenal could deal the Englishman a blow in accepting an offer from their rivals, which would repeat the lows and dismay of the Fabregas transfer in seeing a player raised with the Gunners prevail in west London.