More Smith Rowe bids + Zinchenko / Chido Obi-Martin

Morning, a few bits a bobs going on this morning.

First, there’s more on Emile Smith Rowe with Crystal Palace reportedly ‘preparing’ a bid of up to £35m (including bonuses) for the midfielder. However, the same report says Arsenal will reject the offer, with Mikel Arteta keen to keep the player. I don’t know quite what to make of that, because as I’ve said, how a manager uses a players tells you plenty, and although there were a few signs of life last season (the start against Luton and calling on him from the bench on the final day), it’s gone pretty stale for Smith Rowe at Arsenal.

Perhaps it’s simply a case that we are bargaining, negotiating, trying to get more money, and that’s part of the process, I guess. You might also wonder if Arteta’s desire to keep Smith Rowe is linked to what we feel we can do in the transfer market this summer. That’s just speculation on my part, but is it possible we’ve explored the options out there and decided the investment in someone else isn’t going to result in the upgrade we want? I think that’s probably a bit unlikely, but you can’t help your mind going there.

I think Palace would be a good destination for him though, in the same way I think Fulham would give him the opportunity to play regularly that it doesn’t look like he’s going to get at Arsenal. For me, the most obvious position for him is in that left 8 area, but with so much reporting about our interest in holding midfielders like Mikels Merino and Zubimendi, it looks that that part of the pitch will be filled by Declan Rice. That doesn’t allow for much playing time for someone like Smith Rowe. Clearly the interest from both these clubs is concrete, and I think we’re almost at a point where turning down an offer of around £35m could be viewed as bad business on our part, and bad for the player too. Maybe we try to squeeze a bit more but I think that’s a solid price for someone whose career has not hit the heights we all expected. He needs to play, and we need to invest in some new players this summer – that money would help in that regard. Let’s see.

Meanwhile, Oleksandr Zinchenko has a new agent. It might be nothing, but it’s quite common to see a player change their representation when they’re looking for something new. My suspicion is this is probably part of a longer game, not necessarily about this summer because he has two years left at Arsenal and that gives him some time to figure stuff out. But, it’s vaguely interesting all the same.

Finally for this morning, David Ornstein reports (£) that 16 year old Chido Obi-Martin has turned down an offer from Arsenal and looks set to join Manchester United. The story says:

Arsenal made what they felt was a fair offer to Obi-Martin, whose next deal will be a scholarship before switching to a professional contract upon reaching his 17th birthday.

I’ve seen a lot of discussion around this, and here’s my 2 cents. I don’t really have it in me to go mad because a 16 year old is leaving. Obviously I want the best players to come through our Academy and find a pathway to first team football, and there is probably some cause for concern that one of the biggest talents (literally, he’s a giant at a young age) has chosen to go elsewhere.

I’m not telling anyone else how to think, by the way. You can care as much as you want, but this doesn’t really move the needle for me. He could go on to be brilliant, he could go on to be another Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, but it’s so hard to tell – particularly when a young player has a significant physical advantage when they’re coming through the ranks. Losing a young player to Man Utd is obviously never nice, but at the same time, this is a lad who came from Denmark in 2022, and there is usually a lot more to a story like this than ‘Arsenal bad, Man Utd good’.

When it comes to our Academy, I’m much more invested in the players who are nearly there, on the cusp of being ready for that step-up. For example, I think this summer tour should be a way to get Ethan Nwaneri (and even Myles Lewis-Skelly) further integrated into the first team squad. They are the two brightest lights, and when we talk about pathways to first team football, they’re the ones who need to see it because they have committed to new contracts. That is an important part of this summer.

There’s also a weird contradiction these days when it comes to the transfer market and the Academy. One the one hand fans demand we spend big on top talent to help us become more competitive, but each signing we make like that makes it more difficult for young players to break through. The better your first team is, the harder it becomes to make that step-up – only the very, very, very best can ever make it. And this is a summer, let’s not forget, where the likes of Smith Rowe, Nelson and Nketiah have followed that pathway from the Academy, yet would be considered expendable because they’re just not quite as good as the players we need to win titles. The level has been raised a lot at Arsenal over the last three years, and while the Academy has to be a way of producing first team players, we also have to acknowledge it’s more of a challenge nowadays.

I also suspect the outrage over Chido Obi-Martin wouldn’t be quite as vociferous had we made a couple of first team signings this summer, but so far it’s been very quiet in that regard. I’m keen to see the club announce the kinds of deals that will help us go one better than last season, and go further in the Champions League. A 16 year old with potential choosing a different path isn’t top of my agenda right now, but to each their own.

Right, let’s leave it there for this morning. Have a great Saturday folks.

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