Emile Smith Rowe hasn’t managed a minute of Premier League football and isn’t even allowed to use the first team dressing room. Yet that doesn’t stop Arsenal’s boy wonder from dreaming of joining fellow teenagers Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount in the senior England squad sooner rather than later.
Smith Rowe became the first Arsenal scorer born this century when he netted in Thursday’s 3-0 Europa League victory against Qarabag in Baku. And he is convinced his breakthrough goal justifies his bold decision to stay and fight for a place in Unai Emery’s squad rather than go out on loan for regular first team experience.
Smith Rowe, 18, has already tasted international glory as part of the England team which won the Under-17 World Cup in Calcutta a year ago. But the kid who has already been earmarked as Arsenal’s next big thing has much bigger things planned for the coming years.
He says: “It’s a great achievement for Jordan and Mason to get into the full England and that’s deinitely something I’m trying to do in the future. Gareth Southgate is clearly tryign to give youngsters a chance and it’s really exciting that England are changing their way of playing now. I’ve played with Sancho with the Under-17s but not with Mount. “But the England youngsters area very talented bunch of lads and I think a lot of them will be going through to the first team in the future.”
Arsenal starlet Emile Smith Rowe sings Justin Bieber initiation song after scoring against Atletico Madrid
Smith Rowe is already making his mark at the Emirates and says: “I chose not to go on loan this season because Unai Emery is a great manager and there is no place I’d rather be than working with him every day.
“I wasn’t given any guarantees that I’d play this season but I’ve taken my chance and the opportunities I’m getting now are crazy. I’m so grateful that the gaffer has got faith in me and now I want to keep improving and maybe hopefully one day soon I can make my Premier League debut.
“At the moment I’m just trying to make way in the cup games and the manager has been a real big help because he’s always talking to me after training and involving me in the meetings we have.”
Yet while Smith Rowe is the talk of London Colney after leading Arsenal to last season’s FA Youth Cup final, he still isn’t allowed in the inner sanctum of the first team dressing room at the club’s training ground.
He reveals: “It’s surreal when I’m involved in the cup games and I look around and can’t believe I’m sitting alongside players like Ozil, Lacazette and Aubameyang.
Emile Smith Rowe scored in the 3-0 demolition of Qarabag last night.
“But I’m not actually in the training room at the training ground because I’m still waiting to make that walk down the corridor from the Under-23s base.
“We’re not really allowed in that building but hopefully soon I’ll be following Alex Iwobi and Ainsley Maitland-Niles to the main dressing room.
“If I’m training with the senior squad, I only find out ten minutes before the session, so I change separately and just run over and join the group.
“I’ve been getting so much help and advice from all the senior players.
“Everyone has told that I’ve got so much quality and ability but I need to stay focussed and keep working hard.
“I’ve not always been the most confident player. I was just hoping to get on the bench and when I was told I was going to be starting it was all I could do not to start smiling in the team meeting.”