Arsenal star Emile Smith Rowe NOT for sale with youngster still a key man despite not starting a match last season
ARSENAL do not want to sell Emile Smith Rowe this summer.
The academy product, 22, had a frustrating season with injury and was limited to just 14 appearances – which included NO starts.
It had led to talk he could be shipped out in the closed season as Mikel Arteta looks to freshen up his squad ahead of a renewed title challenge next term.
But SunSport understands the Gunners have no plans to let Smith Rowe go.
Indeed, they still see the playmaker as a key part of Arteta’s plans and hope he will play a far bigger role in next season.
Smith Rowe will go away with the England Under-21s next month for the Euros in Georgia and Romania and look to return to pre-season training in tip-top condition.
The youngster, who has three appearances and a goal for the senior side, had surgery in September on a groin problem which had dogged him for four years.
He revealed in March how worried he was over whether he would return the same player, but also insisted he was finally “pain free”.
Smith Rowe joined Arsenal at the age of 10 in 2010.
He signed his first professional contract in July 2018 and made his first-team debut against Vorskla Poltava in the Europa League two months later.
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The midfielder has since scored 18 goals in 96 appearances for the Gunners.
Many Arsenal fans were convinced that Smith Rowe was staying at the Emirates Stadium after seeing him in the club’s new kit release video.