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Arsenal have rejected a bid of £25 million from Aston Villa for midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe.
The England under-21internatinal was one of the few shining lights for the Gunners last season, having broken into the first-team after Christmas.
A graduate of Arsenal’s Hale End academy. Smith-Rowe forced his way into the England under-21 set-up, and has been tipped as a future full international.
He has two years left in hs current deal to run and Arsenal have no intention of selling him. Instead they are working in an improved new deal for the player who ahs been labelled the Croydon de Bruyne.
Although Mikel Arteta has promised to be ruthless in the transfer market this summer, he will be aware that Smith-Rowe, along with fellow academy product Bukayo Saka, and full-back Kieran Tierney, are the players who are unsellable in the eyes of the club fans, and that allowing any of them to leave the club could cost him his job.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.