Hope it (and sounds like) BS. Kids deserves a chance to prove himself

Fair play to that account. If I wanted write some believable rumour mill fiction, I'd probably hone in on Smith-Rowe. First few posts (including myself) split into various degrees of belief.

Wouldnt shock me to see ESR, Martinelli or Tierney depart this summer

I'd be shocked and appalled if we sold ESR or Martinelli this summer.

Why is it that we manage half a season of good football and already people want to tear it apart?

Martinelli is one of the most productive and dangerous forwards in the league. It would be nothing short of insanity to sell him. This kid is possibly going to hit a point when all the pieces come together and he goes into orbit.

ESR is the worry, only because of injury. We have the depth to let him heal properly, but if he doesn’t get fit reliably we should sell. Every player counts in our set up. This isn’t Wenger’s beach hotel

There is absolutely no need for us to sell either of them. When we have a warchest of 100 mil to spend on Murdyk, why would even sell any of the higher ceiling players?

    If we care about these lads, we absolutely should move on anyone who's not going to graduate to a regular place in the first XI across at least a couple of competitions.

    I regret what we've done to some of our youth products in recent seasons. Maitland-Niles for example—I would hate for Smith Rowe to end up in his shoes because he wasted another couple of years in his development as an occasional substitute.

    Pretty obvious Smith Rowe's not yet done at Arsenal, but I don't want him benched and half-injured all next season as he has been for this one.

    I agree that Emile's fitness remains the big question mark, but he's far more talented than AMN and also seems more professional. For those reasons I just can't see him being peripheral player for us unless it's due to fitness.

    mohan - our 100m war chest has been whittled down via Trossard and Kiwior. We also learned that while we were willing to pay 80+m we couldn’t do it with aggressive payments (which Chelsea did).

    I think we’ll free up some funds this summer and add £50m in revenue (shifting players, CL and league pay out). But if we truly want a renewed war chest we may need to move a player like ESR, or get top dollar for Tierney/Balogun.

      So long as there's a real plan for him. He was born to play attacking midfield. If he doesn't get regular matches, his valuation's gone in twelve months along with his exit to a club good enough for his potential. Not saying he won't, but if Arteta doesn't say so … he won't.

      We have to be realistic as we tie down the first team youngsters to the bumper contracts they're demanding. Anyone who's not 100% in that bracket has to be viewed as saleable, it's good for them and for us.

      That's the sad truth isn't it. I love ESR but the fact is his position is going to be congested very soon.

      He needs to stay fit for the 2nd half of this season and win his place back

      A few days ago we were signing Mudryk to play ahead of Martinelli to play ahead of Smith Rowe. Now we have Trossard and it's not quite the same story, but it's not far off.

      If that doesn't motivate him to the next level, the one that might result in him benching Xhaka, I don't know what you do. But the time's clearly now to get fit and break through again.

        I grt what you are saying. But if we have European competition and he stays reasonably fit then I can't see any reason why he wouldn't get plenty of minutes. If we were to sell him then it would logically be to replace him in the squad with a player who is at least as good, otherwise what is the point? And unless that player comes from within, then how much would it cost us to buy? We've seen how fucking wacko "the market" for quality players can be. We need at least 5 quality players rotating through the front 4 positions and ESR is certainly capable of being one of those. If he's playing regularly and we're doing well, why would he want to move elsewhere? If he isn't happy with a role like that in those circumstances then that's a different matter.

        Yeah I get it too. And he's Hale End.

        But we're going to need to start looking at our world a bit differently if 2023 Arsenal is to go beyond being a one off squad that plays nice-looking football and threatens to win a couple of trophies. I don't mean being pointlessly ruthless.

        Some of you guys clearly suffer from short term memory loss.

        Was just 18 months ago this guy came into the side and transformed how we started playing. Arguably the spark for progress in this side. It was less than 12 months ago this guy stormed into double figures for goals in the Premier League at the age of 21. We're not talking about someone who had a good game in pre-season once.

        Groin surgery later and we're projecting his failure and trying to ship him off in a world where a guy who's the same age but with less experience just went to Chelsea for €100m.