As Arsenal sat 15th and stared at an embarrassing relegation fight at Christmas in 2020 two youngsters stepped up to drag them out of the mire. Mikel Arteta turned to Emile Smith Rowe to inject creativity alongside the more established but still 19-year-old Bukayo Saka and a team that had taken two points from their previous seven games claimed an unlikely victory against Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Smith Rowe, on his third Premier League appearance and first of the season, provided the pass for Saka to send a perfect clipped finish over the goalkeeper Édouard Mendy. These were players the fans could project their faith on to as senior squad members struggled and other academy products have provided moments of unbridled joy under Arteta. Think Eddie Nketiah’s two goals against Manchester United in January 2023 and Reiss Nelson’s left-foot, half-volley rocket to complete a remarkable turnaround against Bournemouth later that season.
Nketiah and Nelson showed they were capable of contributing to a side fighting for the title in the 2022-23 campaign. But last season as Arteta looked for consistency and much less jeopardy, the Hale End boys – other than Saka – were not able to kick on and now they are close to the exit.
Smith Rowe, who coexists with Starboy Saka in the mind of Arsenal fans alongside the rhythm of Status Quo’s Rockin’ All Over the World, appears close to joining Fulham, valued at about £35m. This may be regarded as a success for the academy coaches and provides pure profit on the finance sheets but for a player who demanded the No 10 shirt when signing a new contract in 2021 this is not the direction he or the club hoped to be heading in at this point. After Smith Rowe was left out of Arsenal’s first pre-season game against Bournemouth in California, Arteta said: “There are things happening in the background at the moment. And we decided the best thing to do was keep him away from the game.”
Smith Rowe appeared in 33 Premier League games in his breakout 2021-22 season, contributing 10 goals and two assists. However, he has since started three league matches and not scored a league goal. The player formerly referred to as the “Croydon De Bruyne” has fallen down the pecking order owing to injuries and others’ form. On the left of the attack Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus have been preferred, in midfield Declan Rice and Kai Havertz have played regular minutes in the left No 8 role and as Arsenal scout recruits in the middle of the pitch it is vital that Smith Rowe moves to revive his career.
Nketiah has interest from Marseille. When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was moved out by Arteta in February 2022, only a declining Alexandre Lacazette was ahead of Nketiah in the pecking order and, when the attack stunted, the former Chelsea academy player came in and memorably scored twice to resurrect Arsenal’s top-four hopes in a win at Stamford Bridge where Smith Rowe and Saka also found the net.
Three academy boys starred side by side and the platform was there for them to be the face of the club for years. In the summer of 2022 Nketiah signed a new contract and was granted the No 14 shirt remembered as Thierry Henry’s but Arsenal also signed Jesus from Manchester City as their starting striker and he exploded into life, inspiring an unlikely title challenge.
A knee injury to Jesus gave Nketiah a chance to show he could lead the line for a title challenger and he scored four goals in five Premier League games after the mid-season World Cup. But despite finishing that sequence with a last-minute winner against Manchester United, Nketiah failed to kick on and has been behind Jesus, Havertz and Trossard for the best part of a year.
Nelson, similarly, was unable to follow his dramatic winner against Bournemouth with a sustained run in the team. If Saka’s great strengths include his consistency and availability, these three other academy graduates have struggled to replicate at least one of these.
As Arsenal’s level has risen to compete consistently for the league title and qualify for the Champions League, Smith Rowe, Nketiah and Nelson have sunk below the standards needed whereas Saka is swimming among the best in the world and rarely suffers dips. In an age of players arriving from everywhere and anywhere, fans connect with those who successfully navigate their way through the academy, but results and performances matter most and that means Smith Rowe, Nketiah and Nelson can be cast away.
Source: theguardian.com
