Smith Rowe '100%' staying at Arsenal, says Arteta

Posted Wednesday, July 14, 2021 by Goal.com

The youngster was the subject of a sizable bid from Aston Villa that has been rebuffed

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is adamant that Emile Smith Rowe will not be allowed to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer.

Smith-Rowe, 20, has become the focus of transfer attentions from Aston Villa since the window re-opened.

Despite the Villans' pursuit, Arsenal are not interested in a sale and rejected a £30m ($42m) bid for his service.

What was said?

"Without a question. Yes. He will stay here. 100%," Arteta said in quotes published by The Athletic when asked about his young charge.

When queried on Villa's interest, the manager replied: "No comment."

Smith Rowe netted his side's only goal in an otherwise disappointing 2-1 friendly reverse at the hands of Hibernian on Tuesday, and Arteta was pleased to see him pose more of a threat inside the area.

"He knows that it is a part of the game he needs to get better at. We are working on it a lot and you could see the positions that he took today. He created two or three big chances," he added.

'The best player at this club last season'

Another of Arteta's young charges experienced heart-break at the weekend, as Bukayo Saka erred England's fifth, decisive shoot-out kick to seal Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.

"I have [spoken to him], we all have," the manager explained.

"He's been down, but the support, the love and the admiration of everybody in world football I think is the biggest trophy that he can have.

"He had an incredible season, he was the best player in our club for the whole season, he played for England, he earned the place to play right there at 19.

"What else do you want? Yeah the cup, but you cannot have everything in this football."