Emile Smith Rowe celebrates after scoring (Getty Images)
According to Daily Mail, Arsenal starlet Emile Smith Rowe has joined Championship side Huddersfield Town on loan for the rest of the season.
Smith Rowe, 19, joined Arsenal’s Hale End academy in 2010 and made his debut for the senior side in a Europa League encounter against Vorskla Poltava in September 2018 and became a regular under Unai Emery.
He was loaned out to RB Leipzig at the beginning of last year but that move did not help his cause. His progression was hampered by injuries and he featured in only 3 games for the Bundesliga side.
His return to North London did not help as he failed to get regular game time. In the first half of the season, he featured 12 times for the Gunners and could not make it beyond due to the big names in the squad. As a result, he has been sent on loan to the second-tier team in search of first-team action.
Earlier, reports from The Metro suggested that Arsenal were working on short-term deals for many of their academy youngsters. Therefore, it was a good decision by the club to loan out Smith Rowe.
With the current bunch of main players showing signs of improvement under Mikel Arteta, it would have been difficult for the manager to hand opportunities to the youngsters. Hence, this decision would be helpful for the academy product’s development.
The Terriers’ boss Danny Cowley has also praised the England U20 international saying: “Emile will give us the creative link that we’ve been missing. He can play in a range of attacking positions and he can speed up our play”, as per Daily Mail.
And hence, it is no surprise that Smith Rowe has been sent out on loan to develop and gain valuable experience.
A promising player like Smith Rowe deserves to play on a consistent basis in order to fulfil his potential instead of warming the benches. And by sending him on a loan spell, Arsenal have done the right thing for both the player and the club.
