Arsenal are set to come up against several former players this weekend when they face Fulham. The Cottagers’ side has several players who used to ply their trade in North London rather than West London, and they are in contention to face their old club on Sunday afternoon.
One of those players is former goalkeeper Bernd Leno. He cost Fulham £8m in 2022, making the move directly from Arsenal. Two of the other players are former academy stars, Alex Iwobi and Reiss Nelson, with the latter departing the club over the summer.
Arsenal will also come up against another academy graduate who recently left the Emirates Stadium, Emile Smith Rowe.
Smith Rowe’s career before and after leaving Arsenal
The versatile attacking player has had something of a frustrating career. He was meant to be tearing things up for the Gunners alongside Buakyo Saka, but things did not quite work out how he nor every Arsenal fan had hoped.
The England international made 115 appearances for the club that helped bring him through, scoring 18 goals and grabbing 13 assists. He spent six seasons in the first team at the Emirates Stadium, intertwined with two loan spells at German outfit RB Leipzig and Huddersfield Town.
It was an impressive campaign for the attacking midfielder in 2021/22 when he scored ten goals and grabbed two assists in 33 Premier League games.
However, he did not have many opportunities in an Arsenal shirt after that. Injury was part of the reason why he played just 25 Premier League games in the two seasons that followed.
That said, the attacker’s career at Fulham so far has been fantastic. In 14 top-flight games under Marco Silva, Smith Rowe has three goals and two assists to his name. His former boss Mikel Arteta explained before the game he is “really happy” the Hale End star is playing so well because he is “a very special talent”.
Perhaps Arteta regrets letting his former number ten leave this summer and might wish he gave him one more season to get back to his elegant best. However, there is a new kid on the block for the Gunners, who could be their new Smith Rowe.
Arsenal’s new Smith Rowe
The youngster in question here is the impressive Ethan Nwaneri. It has been a real breakthrough season for the Premier League’s youngest-ever player. He made his debut in 2022/23 at the age of 15 years and 5 months old.
After fleeting performances last season, Nwaneri has become a more prominent fixture in Arteta’s squad this term. He has played 11 times in all competitions, scoring his first goals in that famous Red shirt against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup, and his first top-flight goal against Nottingham Forest in a 3-0 thrashing.
It was a fantastic performance from the talented young winger against Preston North End, a game in which he also scored. As per Sofascore, the youngster, who played as an advanced number eight, completed 98% of his passes and two out of three attempted dribbles.
Stat
Number
Touches
73
Pass accuracy
98%
Passes completed
55/56
Ground duels won
4/6
Dribbles completed
2/3
Tackles won
2/2
Number of times hit woodwork
1
Nwaneri is a player who is highly rated amongst Arsenal fans. Football analyst and Gunners supporter Ben Mattinson described him as a “special” player after his performance against the Lilywhites in the Carabao Cup.
Interestingly, “special” was a word Jamie Carragher used to describe Smith Rowe back in 2021 after a Premier League win over Crystal Palace. Although he was a few years older at the time than the 17-year-old Nwaneri, it is fascinating to see that he was rated just as much when he began to break into the first team.
There are certainly similarities that can be drawn between Smith Rowe and Nwaneri. Not only are they both well-loved and highly rated by Arsenal fans and pundits alike, but both are products of the esteemed Hale End academy.
Gunners fans may well look back on Smith Rowe’s time at the club and wonder what could have been if he could have recaptured his form. However, with Nwaneri, they can certainly get excited about the future.
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