Journalist Charles Watts has suggested that one Arsenal player is looking to remain in the Premier League, should he end up leaving the Emirates during the summer transfer window.
Arsenal will be looking to offload a number of their fringe players this summer, as Mikel Arteta and Edu look for the signings which, they hope, will take them closer to the Premier League title.
Of course, offloading some of those players may be trickier than others. But there are some who are attracting plenty of attention as the summer window starts to get going.
Emile Smith Rowe has found game-time incredibly difficult to come by over the last two years, despite previously reaching double figures for goals in one Premier League campaign for Arsenal.
Arsenal player wants to stay in Premier League if he leaves this summer
Aston Villa, Fulham and Napoli are all admirers of Smith Rowe, but it remains to be seen what sort of fee Arsenal hold out for before they let the 23-year-old leave the club in the coming months. There were suggestions they wanted £60 million in January.
Ideally, you would imagine that Arsenal would prefer to see Smith Rowe move overseas as they will be aware of the damage he could potentially do for a top-flight rival.
But speaking on his YouTube channel, Watts suggested that Smith Rowe may need some convincing about leaving England in this window.
“Having known what I know about the situation, there are options for Emile to potentially go abroad this summer, but his preference if he leaves Arsenal – and it is still a big if, nothing has been decided yet when it comes to that, even though it looks pretty likely – but if he leaves Arsenal, his preference is to remain in the Premier League, despite interest from abroad,” he said.
What Unai Emery said after handing Emile Smith Rowe his Gunners debut
Of course, Smith Rowe may be particularly tempted by the chance to join Aston Villa, in particular, as he would be joining a club who can offer Champions League football and would be reunited with a manager he knows well in Unai Emery.
It was Emery who handed Smith Rowe his Arsenal debut as a 17-year-old, and he suggested at the time that it was a reward for how impressive he had been at London Colney.
“He is 17 years old but he has grown up in the academy and we need to give the young players the opportunity to work with us every day and play matches like today,” Emery told Sky Sports.
“They are working hard in training to be involved with the first team.
“Today I am very happy with his work on the pitch, but not only today. It’s every day. He’s starting today’s match because his performances have been good in every training session.”
Obviously, Smith Rowe will be wary of going anywhere where his opportunities may be limited again, but it is definitely an exciting time to join Villa.
So if they make a serious move this summer, it would make sense if they proved to Smith Rowe’s number one choice.