Journalist Charles Watts has claimed that the injury news surrounding Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith Rowe will come as a ‘big blow’ as he looks set for a spell on the sidelines.
After the Gunners’ most recent Premier League match, the Englishman was warming down and seemed to pull up with an issue, sparking concerns over his fitness.
Speaking in a recent press conference, manager Mikel Arteta was able to provide an update on the situation, but it didn’t look too great as the Spaniard confirmed Smith Rowe will miss the club’s Europa League game with FC Zurich this week.
The Arsenal boss said: “He felt discomfort in an area that [he’s been dealing with] now for a few weeks. He wasn’t comfortable after the game and he hasn’t trained in the last few days, so he’s out of the squad.”
In response to this news, while talking on his own YouTube channel, Watts outlined his own concerns, saying: “Not great for Smith Rowe, he’s had a very stop-start start to the season once again. Just as he did for the second half of last season when injury started to really sort of impact his body.
TIF thoughts on Emile Smith Rowe and Arsenal…
As Watts alludes to, the 22-year-old’s past season was interrupted by fitness struggles as he scored just one league goal after February and was used less frequently by Arteta in the latter stages of the campaign (via Transfermarkt).
And after that drop-off, this term Smith Rowe hasn’t been able to earn a start in the Premier League so far either, making all four of his appearances from the bench.
With that in mind, a midweek Europa League clash would have been the perfect time to get back into the team and rediscover some of the top form that had him playing for England not that long ago.
Sadly, though, it looks as though this injury will be a blow to his plans. Hopefully, Smith Rowe won’t be out for too long
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