Having left boyhood club Arsenal over the summer, Emile Smith Rowe is on track to have his most productive ever season as senior player. With Mikel Arteta's side lacking in midfield at the same time, there is a sense of irony that one of their own is flourishing in south London.
Smith Rowe, who earned the Gunners £34million with his move to Fulham after two seasons in footballing purgatory, already has as many goals as any of his former teammates this season (although he has played an extra match at the time of writing). With two in his first five league outings for Marco Silva's side, as well as one assist, it has been a fruitful start at Craven Cottage.
For Arsenal, it was 31 games since his last goal and 38 for his last two. As Martin Odegaard remains sidelined, there may well be some regret in the camp that such a talented player didn't reach their peak at the Emirates Stadium.
Unfortunately for Arteta and Smith Rowe it simply wasn't meant to be. Injuries and form cut his time in north London with more and more competition arriving to challenge for starting spots.
Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard, and eventually Raheem Sterling plus Mikel Merino all arrived in the last two years of Smith Rowe's stay at Arsenal, whilst Odegaard was signed previously to ramp up the quality in attacking areas. There has been no turning back though.
Against Newcastle on Saturday, Smith Rowe was central to all things good (and at one stage bad) for Fulham. Picking up the ball centrally and running at the box, the 24-year-old hit the bar with an excellent strike, needing little backlift to get a shot away.
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He then went one better, taking a sharp touch inside the box and forcing the ball underneath Nick Pope following a neat poked effort. Although he was fortunate not to be punished for failing to get onto Bernd Leno's poor goalkick, it was a good day for Smith Rowe.
It may well have future ramifications for Arsenal as well. The Gunners can gain from Smith Rowe's success in the future after they inserted a 10% sell-on clause in his contract.
football.london understands that there is no buyback option in the deal though. Should Smith Rowe get to the levels that he promised in the Hale End academy then this could come back to bite Arsenal, but for now they can be happy in the success of a former player with the knowledge that a big move in years to come would land them a significant sum as compensation.
