If rumours are believed, Arsenal are about to sign Emile Smith Rowe up to a new contract.
According to The Mail, Edu and Mikel Arteta have been mightily impressed by the 20-year-old playmaker in recent weeks and a new deal is on the horizon.
Smith Rowe’s emergence as an Arsenal regular this season coincides with Arteta’s side getting their groove back.
Since breaking into the Spaniard’s first XI for a Premier League game against Chelsea in December, the Gunners have won four of their last five games – a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace being their only blemish.
Smith Rowe also scored a huge extra time goal in an FA Cup win over Newcastle United earlier in the month and giving this lad a new deal is really intelligent by Edu.
Mesut Ozil has just left the club and now more than ever do Arsenal need someone to step into the former Germany international’s role as a number 10.
Granted, Ozil hasn’t fulfilled that role in a Gunners shirt in 10 months, but it’s time that the 32-year-old stopped making headlines despite not playing and in Smith Rowe, Arteta has a player who can deflect attention away from the Fenerbahce new boy.
Plus, Smith Rowe is at an age where he has to keep improving for the sake of his development.
Arsenal signed Bukayo Saka up to a new deal last summer and that seems to have taken his game to a new level. Even when Arteta’s side were majorly struggling earlier in the campaign, Saka was one of very few reasons to be positive.
As the 19-year-old has proven, being rewarded can and does fill players with a new sense of purpose and it’s so exciting to see how much better Smith Rowe gets, if and when he signs a new contract.
