EMILE SMITH ROWE – ARSENAL #10 – SIGNS LONG-TERM DEAL

by .

The best news of the summer dropped on the .com, with Arsenal making Emile Smith Rowe their brand new #10.

This is huge.

The player is a pure manifestation of everything we want out of a young player at Arsenal.

He’s extremely talented.

His attitude is exceptional.

He has an outrageous athletic profile.

He’s a Gooner through and through.

This is a massive win for Edu, who despite his obvious flaws, has made it his mission to stop the flow of young talent exiting the club.

This is also a massive win for Mikel Arteta. There’e a vocal section of the fanbase that keeps telling us he’s bland, a dictator, and bad for young players… yet here we are, another of Hale-Ends finest, putting pen to paper on a long-term deal.

You can say that’s money, but it’s not. Hungry players give a shit about one thing and one thing only… career development. They see a future at Arsenal and you have to be pleased about that.

The other massive win is the new vision for Arsenal. Clearly, we’re ageing down the squad, finally accepting smartest way to the top is to do things properly.

Build a young squad, coach them well, make sure when they hit the Champions League, they are ready to compete for the trophy.

This model is already reaping rewards. Tavares said he wanted to play with The Smith and Saka. Sambi Lokonga had offers from elsewhere in Europe and he chose Arsenal. We are now and attractive option for a younger generation of kids who see London, great training facilities, elite stadium… and the chance to make their mark in the best league.

I’m thrilled about this. Nearly all the young players we wanted to stay are committing their longterm futures to Arsenal. Saka, Martinelli, Emile Smith Rowe, Balogun, Kido Hart, Okowono… what a summer!

Now Edu and his team have to get to work to fill out the rest of the squad.

We still need a Xhaka replacement.

We are in desperate need of additional creativity in midfield.

We don’t have an acceptable right back.

The back-up keeper needs are getting desperate.

There are still 15 centre backs in the squad.

Plenty of work to do, but the summer is starting to feel a little bit sexier, and the mood is starting to lift.

Let’s see what the week ahead has for us.

Emile Smith Rowe, number 10, how very, very exciting.

____________________________________________________________

We dropped another podcast that we recorded for the video creeeeew. Enjoy. Find my co-host @iJohnnyCochrane.

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zacharse

almunia
if he wanted arsenal (not in the CL, AC MILAN is) we would have him for 15m
we did get nuno for 8 and lokonga for 15, remains to be seen if they were steals or not. same w maignan

zacharse

raptora
we get bottom of the barrel pickins due to no CL. only players on your list outside CL teams went to leicester.
those players will be coming if and when we make CL.
hard to sell sancho and varane on arsenal atm but its certainly not a given that varane has a better season than white…

Almuniasaynomore

Zacharse,
I get the part where Maignan chooses Milan over us, I just can’t understand why the fee is so low. And if the answer involves covid/ European clubs being broke, surely we should be making hay on the continent.

zacharse

agreed almunia. but not just anyone especially in our current state just because they had a good season in france… its always gonna be easier for players who’ve done a year or 2 in the EPL to adapt fast. Willian excepted of course

Almuniasaynomore

Pedro,
I would have agreed with you until Tom and Wenger Eagle pointed out that Sheffield paid just shy of 20 mill. They’ll be looking for a decent profit.

zacharse

the low fee is valuation by the players own club. perhaps one year left, perhaps super low wages, perhapos hes willing to be no2. maybe he just wants out, i no nothing about the situation

raptora

Tee, I’m saying that Ramsdale is not the only option around. I don’t watch much football outside of the EPL, UCL and EL, but surely there are tens of keepers better and cheaper than Ramsdale. Just looking at the teams in the EPL I can give you the names of 10 GKs that have performed better than him. My opinion means nothing, but I’m struggling to see the positives in splashing such a big outlay for a GK who is a 4th choice in arguably England NT’s weakest position. Areola is a good GK, so is Keylor. Just the obvious… Read more »

andy1886

Pedro, just stating what has already been reported. No need to get stressy at the slightest perceived slight to your man or his project.

Rich, you got it the wrong way around, Johnstone is 28 and Henderson is 24.

zacharse

Leno is still our no1. ramsdales wages are much lower compared to ex RM and PSG players for one thing.
the only thing that feels off about it is 32m fee

Almuniasaynomore

Zacharse,
No I’d agree with you there, not just anyone. But I saw Maignan play a lot and he was excellent. So too Renato Sanches. Totally reliant on Wenger Eagle when it comes to Aouar. ( and most others tbh, the boy knows his stuff).

raptora

Pedro,
Your previous post is named “ARSENAL GO VERY BRITISH”.

I comment on what’s available just like you do.

PhD2020

PedroJuly 22, 2021 19:35:01
Varane and Sancho also not earning 110k a week.

—-
What are the projected salary figures per week for both of them,out of curiosity?

Muppetman

Raptora at least wait until we sign players before you start moaning. You are so negative, how about waiting to see how the summer pans out then moan when we lose the first five games 🙂

Tee

“Onana didn’t want to join a club that’s not even in the EL. So he’s looking elsewhere.”

No concrete evidence to show we were interested in him other than the usual click baits.

Tom

Pedro, the EL is a pull for some players for different reasons.
It might guarantee minutes for a second string keeper, for example. Which he might not get enough of in domestic cups , if the club gets bounced out of early on………….always a possibility

Pierre

Rich
“I’m not pushing Ramsdale, but at 23 and a decent amount of experience, he ticks boxes, providing the price and wages are right”

It really was no coincidence that Sheffield United were relegated with a different keeper between the sticks.

Whether we sign Ramsdale or not is immaterial, the fact that we are even showing any interest in him is worrying.

I suppose the best that can be said is that he is a step up from Runnarson, but even that’s debatable.

Tee

“Just looking at the teams in the EPL I can give you the names of 10 GKs that have performed better than him. My opinion means nothing, but I’m struggling to see the positives in splashing such a big outlay for a GK who is a 4th choice in arguably England NT’s weakest position.” I think we can all agree on something – the fee (30m). We still have to wait to see who actually comes in. Gooners of all fans should know we are always linked to the whole lot of players every two and when it doesn’t materialise,… Read more »

Tee

*tw- transfer window

raptora

Pedro,
I’m on the fence if I should believe the Ramsdale rumour or not.

Reading it, they add that we’ve already made 2 offers, that Sheffield United have refused, and are about to make a 3rd one of £30m, it get’s me worried that it might be real.

The first reports happened over a month ago and it just wouldn’t go away.

On the other hand I refuse to believe that we’re actually going to do it.

Pierre

Smith Rowe signing a new contract was a formality….the only credit should go to the academy and the job they are doing in bringing through such a talented bunch of young players…

Rich

Pierre My point is it’s a difficult and important position to get right Having two top keepers at their peak, is unmanageable, because one will want to leave and become first choice We could go for another older keeper, who’s looking forward one last payday, which I’m absolutely done with The other option is a younger keeper, who has some type of demonstrable track record, who we can sell on a succession plan Who can be relied upon to provide cover + internal competition, and who we think has the potential to grow into a top keeper It’s such an… Read more »

Dissenter

Pedro
Glad to see you’ve started your charm offensive for Ramsdale
Next in line is that data dump on why he’s the best progressive passing keeper in the league

Br0wnie

Ramsdale would have been 4th choice if Nick Pope wasn’t injured

Crabregas

Darmesh Sheth has reported that arsenal fans should expect plenty more incomings and plenty more outgoings.

I would be happy with 3-4 in and at least 6 to go out.

Dissenter

Besides, when did anyone ever suggest that ESR was not going to sign his deal.
The conversation was that Villa were bidding because ESR’s agents were probably using them for leverage in negotiations

Champagne Charlie

Dissenter

Do you have anything about Ramsdale other than he’s been relegated twice? Be curious to hear a more technical breakdown of his strengths and weaknesses.

Outside that it appears a blend of snobbery and ignorance.

Dissenter

Pedro
“Raptora, we just signed Lokonga for 18m and Tavares for 8m. We haven’t signed a British player yet.”

That’s being disingenuous because you know the Ben White deal is done.
It was done the moment we sent Saliba away on loan,

curse

Arsenal also want what they paid for Lenore if he goes. 22m. That would make the LA Rams 10m?

I’m not behind this move, just making sense of it.

tbf to dissenter, he is called dissenter 😂

raptora

It’s a relatively safe thing to say that White is all but announced.

Dissenter

CC
I’ve seen Ramsdale since he broke through at Bournemouth and watched him several times last season.
There’s nothing remotely spectacular about him and there was a massive drop-off for Sheffield when he took over from Henderson. He was definitely in the bottom 10% of goalies in the league in the past two season.

Champagne Charlie

Dissenter

Not exactly the most thorough breakdown I’ve ever read of a player, ‘I’ve watched him, he’s not remotely spectacular’.

Can you enlighten for those that haven’t seen much of him?

Tom

Sheffield conceded 39 goals with Henderson in goal in 2019/20, and 63 goals with Ramsdale a season later.
His market valuation is at £10m so paying triple that would be on a crazy side even for Artedu.

Why was that again about White improving Brighton’s defense by 8 goals less conceded to justify his £50m worth?

Dissenter

curse
This goal keeping fiasco is down to the goal keeping coach Arteta brought in. Excuse my dissenting because I don’t trust a system that keeps the specialist coach who gave us Runnarsson in charge.
Inaki Cana Pavon met two competent goalies at Arsenal when he resumed for duty and is set to reduce the GK situation to utter shambles in 1.5 seasons.

Tom

*What*

Bertie Mee

The decision is to find a homegrown keeper- otherwise we would have signed Mat Ryan . Pope has kicking issues but Johnstone though older is much cheaper than Ramsdale as he has one year left on his contract . The homegrown thing may be because of other plans for outfield players

curse

I take it all back, we won’t be raiding farca.

“Number eight definitely,” Maddison told Leicestershire Live last year. “I played as a number 10 at the start of last season, and then when the gaffer [Rodgers] came in, I transitioned into a number eight, and sometimes I play off the left.

“I don’t want to be labelled as a number 10. I’m not a number 10. I can’t remember a game where I’ve played as a number 10 this season, maybe West Ham at home.

Partey partner? that would be mad if it worked.

Almuniasaynomore

Bertie,
Pope has kicking issues? That’s a pity, he has everything that I love in a keeper, decision making ,presence, confident under the aerial ball I never remember him stru5with his feet but I guess Burnley ( nor Charlton) asked him to play out from the back much. Would his weakness be significant enough to stop you signing him?

Mr Serge

ESR gets 40k a week villa were offering. Double that to his agent if that’s the case that’s a big eff you to villa lpl

Almuniasaynomore

#struggle with his feet

Br0wnie

Why not go after Meslier. Ranked higher than Johnson or Ramsdale, younger (age 20) and valued at $20 mil?

Mark

Glad to hear ESR signed, I think the villa interest got him the 10 shirt and a guarantee he will be involved. Understandable really, plus he’s earned it.

However we still need 2 more in midfield, Bissouma and Aouar my preference. Hell no to Henderson, I can’t stand him and if we’re serious about competing we should buy younger and better.

The bad news, guess who’s probably gonna be stinking out the squad this season…

https://tbrfootball.com/report-incredible-talent-could-end-up-staying-at-arsenal-and-playing-for-arteta-this-season/

Title should read, ” It’s incredible such poor talent could end up staying……

raptora

Meslier could actually become top class.

Young, capable of loss of concentration leading to fatal mistakes.

But the upside is he is extremely talented, he’s played for Bielsa, he’s a 193 cm tall and plays like an outfield player.

I watched a lot of games of Leeds. Kid has serious potential and is already good enough. Leeds defence was leaking but he was making some spectacular saves in addition to the normal stuff.

I would 100% back that transfer.

Pierre

Charlie “Dussenter Do you have anything about Ramsdale other than he’s been relegated twice? Be curious to hear a more technical breakdown of his strengths and weaknesses.Outside that it appears a blend of snobbery and ignorance.” Although the question wasn’t aimed at me , all I can say is whilst watching Sheffield United’s struggles in 20/21 I noticed how much a change a keeper had affected their season. Either Henderson had a worldie the season before or Ramsdale was just a poor keeper. To go from conceding 39 goals to 63 goals in one season is dramatic. To be honest… Read more »

Northbanker

From everything I saw of Ramsdale, he seemed a decent keeper who at 23 is still improving. Making out he will be a disaster is really typical of the doom and gloom merchants on here.

That said, I’d be very happy with a Ryan type keeper as a stop gap until Okonkwo and Hein ready to really compete.

Davi

Out of interest, what was it like on here before we sold martinez? The general feeling I got was that most arsenal fans thought it was a good deal because we needed the money, and we had Leno.
Just wondering because obviously everyone now thinks it was a stupid decision, but it seems like most would have made the same call at the time?

curse

dissenter, yeah that whole situation seems really weird, I haven’t dug that deep into it yet as the position isn’t that high on the priority list for me.

Mark

One thing about ESR is he’s been unlucky so far not to have scored more goals. He’s not shy of shooting when the opportunity arises, I reckon he could get 10-15 goals if the team doesn’t play so defensively.
Buendia would have been excellent in our midfield. I’m pissed off we didn’t go all out to get him. Just hope we bring in some athletic strong and creative players into midfield.

Rich

Few reports we’ve got a bid of €20 mill out of Roma for Xhaka, and the deal is close Be interesting who we get to replace him, I’m not pushing this player, but I’ve got a sneaky feeling we’ll try for Camavinga Xhaka would tuck in behind Tierney on the left in possession last season, and we’ve just signed another left back who’s stylistically similar A left footer seems to suit that role more than a right footer, and someone with Camavinga’s athletic profile and recovery pace, could push much further up the pitch than Xhaka Replacing Xhaka with a… Read more »

Mr Serge

Davi no one knew who Martinez was until he rocked the last 3 months most of us them saw enough of him to see he was at least as good as Leno
But he wanted the 1 shirt and had one year left on his deal
It made sense to sell him rather than he walks on a free

PhD2020

Under Arsene in 2012-The five British core signing new long term contracts.

-Ox
-Ramsey
-Gibbs
-Jenks
-Wilshere

https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/where-are-they-now-arsene-wengers-british-core-at-arsenal-from-2012/

raptora

The doom and gloom brigade said nothing bad about Lokonga, or Partey, or Gabriel Magalhaes. If many people don’t rate Ramsdale, it could be for a good reason. Think about that.

Davi

Cheers Mr Serge – when you put it that way, it’s understandable why we did it.

Dissenter

I’m not one of those that bash Arteta for Emi’s exit. Emi engineered his way out; he gave that interview in Argentina and set the ball rolling. He didn’t think a 95% certainty of starting the first game was good enough, preferring the 100% certainty that Villa gave him of starting. There’s no manager in the world that would have told him he had 100% chance of starting the first game in a situation where he was competing against the longstanding number one keeper. The best Arteta could have done is say 95% because he has to give Leno that… Read more »

Mark

Serge, what made sense was to give Emi the shirt. You saw how he cried when he took his chance and won us fa cup and comm shield. He’d earned it. Davi, there were people who voiced concerns that we were selling the better keeper. But these were shouted down by people saying if he wants to go F#ck him. It’s only 12 games… Leno’s been a hero till his injury…. The smart move would have been to tell Emi he’s keeping the shirt and Leno has to raise his game to get it back. That way you retain both… Read more »

Mark

Seems like a few people have concerns about the Ramsdale signing and at that price too.

Dissenter

Mark Leno didn’t put any foot wrong too though You can’t punish Leno for being deliberately injured by Maupay. Had Martinez come into because Leni showed poor form then by all means the manager can just let him keep in that basis. Martinez came in to replace a crocked Leno at the time when he was the fan favorite . Arteta would have had a major migraine last season splitting hairs to divide playing time for the two co-equal keepers, eventually one keeper would have had to leave. Emi took matters into his hands and made that decision easier for… Read more »

WengerEagle

Spot on Mark ^. There were plenty on here that were stauchly against the decision to sell Martinez at the time Davi. He came in and made more than a big enough impression in the season run-in to have earned the number 1 shirt for the new season. Pivotal in delivering the FA Cup trophy that still has Arteta in a job to this day. Really poor decision from the club to let him go. Really will be double downing on it if we shell out for Ramsdale on top of it. Let Martinez go, bring in Runarsson as back… Read more »

Dissenter

Leno’ s career has kind of stagnated. he came to arsenal thinking he was making an upward move from Leverkusen and now he’s marooned in a club that’s been stuck at 8th place for two consecutive seasons.

If he wants to stand a chance to start for Germany, he has to move away from Arsenal.
Then you consider the fact that his immediate boss [Pavon] is grossly incompetent by all accounts.

curse

not a great list is it…think I’m leaning towards LA Ramsdale.

Dissenter

curse
Does it have to be a British goal keeper?

Mark

Diss, I believe it’s a question of judgement, being able to read the room. I don’t believe Arteta knew Emi would leave. It not that Leno had made loads of mistakes , butif you compared his performances to Emi there was clearly only one winner. Leno was very nervous playing with the ball at his feet, played some horrible hospital balls to the defenders around him, creating s very nervous vibe at the back. He held the ball to long was slow to distribute,. Would push balls back into open play instead of out of play, had poor command of… Read more »

Almuniasaynomore

Mark, From that list you posted I’d have Johnstone, Navas, Pope or Tina O’ Brien( how she looked then). You’re spot on about Martinez, the keepers position is very different to outfield, you cant get shoehorned in elsewhere or brought on as a sub. Hence being guaranteed the no.1 spot is a far more meaningful and sensitive issue than in other areas. If Arteta thought Martinez was the better he should have given him the nod, 100%. The idea that he didn’t because he felt no player should be given such assurances is rubbish. Arteta actually rated Leno higher. Look… Read more »

Tom

“Just wondering because obviously everyone now thinks it was a stupid decision, but it seems like most would have made the same call at the time?“ Davi, I hope you’re not comparing what Arteta knew/saw to what a casual Legrove poster knew/saw re Emi vis a vis the Arteta project at the time to justify that decision. Forget the £5million Arteta is getting paid the get them right and just concentrate on the fact that none of us is inside of his brain to know things like what his preferred style of play going forward might be, or what defenders… Read more »

gnarleygeorge9

Excellent news, I can still follow The Arsenal 🙂

Mark

Why say 95% to anyone and think they’re gonna be happy. I mean you’re gonna think well what is gonna determine the other 5% ? I don’t blame Emi, at all. If you know you’re better than someone else, and then you prove it. Why would you settle for going back to the bench. The same logic used for Leno could have been used for Emi. He didn’t make any mistakes, infact he performed magnificently, so why should he have to give up the shirt? It was Emi’s shirt to lose, if his performances slipped. That’s how it should have… Read more »

Mark

Obviously to simple for Mega-brain Mikel.

Mark

Pedro, why do cryptic. Just say what you mean.

WengerEagle

Hilarious watching Beckham’s vanity project descend into a freak show with the dopey Chuckle Brother Phil Neville at the helm.

Gonzalo Higuain looking more like Sid Haig by the day.

Also have that eternal bellend scrote that is the dirty Ryan Shawcross.

Mark

It’s not just about goals conceded because not every goal scored against us is down to the keeper.

All of the traits I listed should have been apparent to our manager. So he should have made his decision based on that.
The fact Emi has gone on to prove what posters were saying about the deal, raises question marks over Arteta’s judgement. There’s no getting away from that, with a goals conceded stat.

You shouldn’t be so disingenuous just to justify everything Mikel does.

Mark

PedroJuly 22, 2021 21:42:01
Tom, do you give Arteta credit for keeping the keeper that conceded 38 over 46?

My post was in response to the above.

Mr Serge

Mark you can’t say yes you are number 1 when you have a long standing number 1 I’m his way that was not dropped but was out injured
EMI should have backed himself and stayed but he chose to go to villa instead
So be it

Rich

Check out Aouar’s volley in a friendly for Lyon tonight, very RVP

Mark

Almuniasaynomore

Johnstone would be my choice to,. With Sheffield digging their heals in we should just look elsewhere.

It sends a message to teams that we’re not just gonna cave in to their demands. That they need to come to the table, do a deal or see you later. There’s other players we can get. I really don’t know why we’re entertaining it.

A fool and his money are easily parted.. as they say.

Kroenkephobe

I hate to sound like a stickler for grammar and syntax Pedro but the multitude of uses that you deploy for the verb to drop are, frankly, bewildering. I’m dropping the view that the erroneous definition of the verb to drop is potentially leading to a drop in clarity on here. I’d go so far as to drop a few quid on a bet that I’m not the only one dropping his mind about this… It must be a big apple media thing. I know you’ll keep dropping it anyway but I just wanted to drop it as an opinion.

WengerEagle

Pedro

Ha, don’t think that Hig has completed a single sprint in about 3 years. Some player in his day but he’s an Argentine Wayne Rooney.

Instead of booze and fags though his vice was Salami and Pasta.

MLS is still poor quality-wise but you have to be a decent athlete or you’ll struggle.

Zlatan was in impeccable shape even at 37 over there.

Almuniasaynomore

Wenger Eagle
All they need now is to talk Evra out of retirement, bring in Suarez to add a bit of bite,and see if Joey Barton can be swayed to move over, he’d pick up the accent in no time. We might lose out on our Amazon documentary though!

Rich

Almunia

How good is that Joey Barton accent?

Have you seen the Steve McLaren Dutch effort?

WengerEagle

3rd best defence in the league and yet we’re spunking 50m on a CB.

No, we’re not Sheikh- backed Man City, we’re Kroenke backed Arsenal that have just finished 8th once again.

andy1886

Serge, the general rule is if the incumbent is performing extremely well he keeps the job regardless of if he’s considered #1 or #2. That’s how players break into the team. You also conveniently forget that Emi was clearly much better suited to the way that Mikel wanted to play out from the back which he’s great at while Leno isn’t at all comfortable with the ball at his feet as we saw to our detriment last season. Why keep the ‘keeper that can’t actually do what you need him to do?

WengerEagle

Sancho’s attempt at a German accent was pretty hilarious too.

curse

dissenter, I don’t think so, thought our homegrown quota was out of wack and that’s why he was getting the nod?
I wanted Onana, still do, not sure why the club don’t. Not really clued up on foreign keepers either, what’s available?

Mr Serge

Andy if EMI backed himself he would still be our number one but he decided to instigate the move to villa let him fester there

Mark

Serge, The manager can say what he likes, and if you’re going to make decisions based on seniority above performance. You’re going to end up with egg on your face. Kinda like where we are now Pedro, I’m sure Leno would back himself, but for the reasons I mentioned about his play compared to Emi. It’s irrelevant what Leno thinks. The job if the manager is to select the best of the personnel he has available, based on merit not favouritism. Then set them up to be successful. I don’t feel that Arteta has done that since he’s been here.… Read more »

WengerEagle

Pedro

All what ifs of course but if we had signed Suarez in 2013, we win the league.

And Higuain certainly would have helped us win the league in 15/16, he scored 36 Serie A goals for Napoli with only a couple of pens unlike Immobile who needed something mad like 15. Bonkers.

andy1886

Pedro, you’re right about Higuian. We were in for him first and had a deal agreed in principle but my recollection is that we bailed on that when we thought we could get Suarez. And we all knew how that ended up – no striker (which we deperately needed) and a late vanity purchase called Ozil.

WengerEagle

Almunia

I don’t think I have ever hated a player more than Patrice Evra.

Used to mock both Arsenal and Ireland on the regular. Also a cocky little prat and in my mind slightly overrated as a LB (although I concede he was top drawer, I would take Ashley Cole over him every day and Sundays)

andy1886

Pedro, Manninger never went on an ‘incredible run’. I could probably come up with a few examples if I put my mind to it but of the top of my head Nigel Spink came in for Jimmy Rimmer in the European Cup Final for Villa and helped them win the trophy. Rimmer didn’t get his place back…