Emile Smith Rowe is moving closer to joining Fulham after Mikel Arteta left the forward out of Arsenal’s pre-season friendly against Bournemouth in the United States.
Negotiations over the 23-year-old are continuing but Fulham are understood to be confident of wrapping up a deal. They had a £30m offer rejected last week but returned with a bid worth up to £35m with add-ons – a fee that would which surpass the club record £27m paid for the Ivory Coast midfielder Jean Michaël Seri in 2018.
Smith Rowe was not selected for Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth in California on Wednesday, with Arteta opting to field a youthful lineup for their opening tour match. The manager hinted after that Smith Rowe, who played only 346 minutes in the Premier League last season, including three starts, having been sidelined with a knee injury at the end of last year, could be on his way out.
“There are things happening in the background at the moment,” he said. “We decided the best thing to do was to keep him away from the game today.”
Smith Rowe won the last of three England caps in 2022 and has since slipped down the pecking order at Arsenal. He is also wanted by Crystal Palace and Arteta’s apparent willingness to allow the academy graduate to leave will disappoint some supporters.
However, with the signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna for an initial £33.6m set to be announced, Arsenal may turn their attention to other reinforcements, including Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino. Calafiori is expected to complete his medical in the US and link up with the rest of the Arsenal squad after agreeing a five-year deal.
The England Under-17 internationals Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri were among the academy players handed starts against Bournemouth and Arteta was pleased with their impact. “We have a very different context today with so many young players – most of them making their debuts for us,” he said. “And I think the senior players had a good game. It was a really competitive match against Bournemouth as we expected. They are a little bit ahead of us in terms of the time that they had to prepare.”
Fulham are also set to re-sign Ryan Sessegnon despite the 24-year-old having spent the last few weeks training with Crystal Palace, who had also offered him a deal. The left-back was a free agent after leaving Tottenham, with the north Londoners having paid around £25m to buy him from Fulham in 2019.
