The attacking midfielder, who had a breakthrough campaign last time around, will wear the No 10 shirt for the 2021/22 season.
Follow Us
In a morale-boosting development for Arsenal fans, their promising young midfielder Emile Smith Rowe has signed a new long-term contract with the club. The attacking midfielder has progressed through the ranks at the Hale End academy, featuring for all the youth sides during his development with the club. The 20-year-old midfielder, who had a breakthrough season last time around, will wear the No 10 shirt for the 2021/22 season. His impact was swift in the first team last season as he ended up making 33 appearances across all competitions. Smith Rowe also has experience with loan spells in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig and with Huddersfield Town in the Championship.
“I can’t wait to carry on playing for this wonderful club and we’ll see what happens,” Smith Rowe told Arsenal.com. “[Signing my new contract] means so much to me. I’ve been waiting for it, and to carry on playing for this club, it means so much to me and I’m so happy. I feel like I didn’t really have to think about it too much you know. I’ve been at the club since I was 10 years old, so for me it was just about carrying on at this club, so like I said, I’m really happy.”
Emile Smith Rowe’s progression to the first team became evident when he celebrated his 18th birthday with a man-of-the-match performance against Paris Saint-Germain in a pre-season friendly in Singapore. He scored his maiden senior goal in a 3-0 win away to Qarabag FK in the Europa League in October 2018. The attacking midfielder then made his Premier League debut at the age of 19 against Manchester City in December 2019. His first Premier League goal came at home to West Brom in May this year, and he continued that form, scoring the winner away at Chelsea a few days later.
Speaking on Emile Smith Rowe’s contract extension, Mikel Arteta said, “As we all saw last season, Emile is an intelligent player with excellent ability. His sharpness on the turn and exceptional vision have already made him a key player for us. His attitude and willingness to learn have also been very impressive. Huge credit to our team in our academy who have given Emile a great education and have worked superbly to help with his development through the age groups.”
“Along with the first-team staff, huge credit also goes to our senior players, who have played such an important role to help Emile develop, gain confidence and perform the way he did last season. I know the fans will join us in being delighted that Emile has committed his future to the club. We’re now looking forward to helping him develop further and seeing him become even more important to the strong young team we’re building.”
Meanwhile, technical director Edu said, “This is another important step forward for us and we’re all delighted that Emile has signed a new long-term contract. It’s great to see another young player develop through our academy system to become a key part of our first team. Emile is a player who represents the future of the club and this is why we have given him the No 10 shirt. We have trust in Emile and we know he has the potential to be a beautiful player for many years to come.”
