Arsenal they are set to face a number of former players this weekend when they take on Fulham. The Cottagers squad has a number of players who used to ply their trade in North London rather than West London, and they are in contention to face their old club on Sunday afternoon.
One of those players is former goalkeeper Bernd Leno. He cost Fulham £8m in 2022, making the move direct from Arsenal. Two of the other players are former academy stars Alex Iwobi and Reiss Nelson, with the latter set to leave the club in the summer.
Arsenal will also face another academy graduate who recently left the Emirates Stadium, Emile Smith Rowe.
Smith Rowe’s career before and after leaving Arsenal
The versatile attacking player has had something of a disappointing career. He was supposed to tear things up for the Gunners alongside Buakyo Saka, but things didn’t turn out quite as he or all Arsenal fans had hoped.
The England international made 115 innings for the club that helped him through, scoring 18 goals and grabbing 13 assists. He spent six seasons in the first team at the Emirates Stadium, interspersed with two loan spells at German side RB Leipzig and Huddersfield Town.
It’s been an impressive campaign for the attacking midfielder in 2021/22, when he scored ten goals and picked up two assists in 33 Premier League games.
However, after that he didn’t get many opportunities in an Arsenal shirt. Injury was part of the reason he played just 25 Premier League games over the following two seasons.
That said, the striker’s Fulham career so far has been fantastic. In 14 top tier games under Marco Silva, Smith Rowe has three goals and two assists to his name. His former boss Mikel Arteta he explained before the game he is ‘really happy’ the Hale End star is performing so well because he is ‘a very special talent’.
Perhaps Arteta regrets letting his former number ten go this summer and perhaps wishes he had been given one more season to get back to his stylish best. However, there is a new kid on the block for the Gunners, who could be their new Smith Rowe.
Arsenal’s new Smith Rowe
The young man in question here is the impressive one Ethan Nuaneri. It was a really important period for the Premier League’s youngest player. He made his debut in 2022/23 at the age of 15 years and 5 months.
After making fleeting appearances last season, Nwaneri has become a more important player in Arteta’s side this term. It has played 11 times in all competitions, scoring his first goals in that famous Reds shirt against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup and his first top-flight goal against Nottingham Forest in a 3-0 win.
It was a fantastic display from the talented young winger against Preston North End, a game in which he also scored. According to Sofascorethe youngster, playing as an advanced number eight, completed 98% of his passes and two in three dribble attempts.
|
Nwaneri vs. Stats Preston |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Number |
|
touches |
73 |
|
Pass accuracy |
98% |
|
Passages completed |
55/56 |
|
Ground duels won |
4/6 |
|
The dribbles are complete |
2/3 |
|
They won the tackles |
2/2 |
|
How many times was the woodwork struck? |
1 |
|
Statistics from Sofascore |
|
Nwaneri is a player who is highly rated among Arsenal fans. Football analyst and Gunners supporter Ben Mattinson described him as a “special” player after his performance against the Lilywhites in the Carabao Cup.
Interestingly, “special” was a word Jamie Carragher used to describe Smith Rowe in 2021 after the Premier League win over Crystal Palace. Although he was a few years older than the 17-year-old Nwaneri at the time, it is exciting to see that he was rated equally when he started breaking into the first team.
There are certainly similarities that can be drawn between Smith Rowe and Nwaneri. Not only are they both highly loved and highly rated by Arsenal fans and pundits alike, they are both products of the esteemed Hale End academy.
Gunners fans may well look back on Smith Rowe’s time at the club and wonder what could have been if he could recapture his form. However, with Nwaneri, they can certainly be excited about the future.
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Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series features tactical discussion from around the world game.
Perhaps now, with the games coming thick and fast, could be the perfect time for Nwaneri to unleash from the start…
