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Aston Villa have had a second bid for midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe rejected by Arsenal.
They had already failed with an opening offer of £25 million for the 20 year old, but despite going back to the Gunners with an improved offer of £30 million, that too has been turned down.
England under-21 international Smith-Rowe bust into the first team at the Emirates after Christmas last year, and is regarded as a key part of Mikel Arteta’s plans going forward.
He still has two years left on hs current deal with Arsenal and they have no intention of selling him, although he has yet to agree terms over a proposed new deal with the club. The interest form outside gives the player’s agent a valuable bargaining tool when it comes to making those as lucrative as possible for his client.
Villa have already signed Emi Buendia from Norwich and want Smith-Rowe to further boost their attacking options for next season.
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.