Arsenal star Emile Smith Rowe has spoken about his future amid transfer links with Aston Villa. The 22-year-old is attracting interest from Premier League sides including West Ham and Brighton this summer. Villa have also been keen in the past. He was restricted to regular game time this past season, featuring just 14 times across all competitions. Despite struggling with injury, he was named as an unused substitute on the bench for most of the second half of the season. There has been some talk over a potential exit as Arsenal have been credited with an interest in James Maddison as his potential replacement. However, previous reports claimed the Gunners have no intention of letting their player leave. Speaking to The Times about this season,
Emile Smith Rowe said: “I just want to be on the pitch. This was the hardest season of my career. It was tough [not playing], but we were in a title race and I understand the manager isn’t going to change the team if we’re winning every game. I just tried to stay positive and train as well as I could. The other players and Mikel [Arteta] were great with me, kept me feeling connected. But it was tough, a long season. I won’t lie. Arsenal are my club and I’m not going to give up until [Arteta] says he doesn’t want me. But that’s not the case. He wants me as part of the team and I want to fight for my place and get back in the team. I think with the team we’ve got, it’s definitely possible [to win the Premier League]. This season, it just got nicked at the end and you can’t really argue with Man City, but knowing we managed to go so far in the season top of the league shows the character and belief we have as a young team. I think this year was just the start for us and next season we can do even better.”
