Emile Smith Rowe: A New Beginning for One of Hale End’s Finest Products

After a 14-year spell at his boyhood club, highly rated English midfielder, Emile Smith Rowe has made the switch from North to West London to join Fulham in a club record deal that could rise to £34 million with add-ons. Smith Rowe is one of the success stories from Arsenal’s Hale End Academy, making his first senior appearance against Vorskla Poltava in a Europa League game on the 20th of September 2018 and also scoring in his first ever senior start in the following Europa League game against Qarabag.

Smith Rowe immediately made a good first impression on the fans and then manager Unai Emery who had initially described Smith Rowe as having "lots of potential." Smith Rowe would then go on two separate loan spells at RB Leipzig and Huddersfield Town before finally becoming a full-fledged member of the Arsenal first team in the 2020/21 season when he made 33 first team appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals and also providing seven assists. 

It was evident that Smith Rowe possessed the sort of talent that distinguished him from so many other academy graduates at the club. Alongside Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah, the English midfielder represented one of Hale End’s biggest chances at producing a world-class talent who could turn out to be a mainstay in Arsenal’s first team.

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