Emile Smith Rowe will return to the Emirates Stadium for the first time on Tuesday evening after leaving Arsenal for Fulham in the summer.
Smith Rowe played against Arsenal for the first time earlier this season in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage, a game in which William Saliba scored for the away side.
Smith Rowe started as Marco Silva’s number ten on that occasion, lasting 60 minutes before he was replaced by Andreas Pereira.
And although Smith Rowe made a lightning start at Fulham, he’s been rotated in and out of Silva’s starting eleven of late.
At the start of the season it was constantly said that Arsenal made a mistake selling Smith Rowe, but that argument has become significantly quieter in recent months.
Marco Silva admits that Emile Smith Rowe’s form has suffered
That being said, Silva spoke about Smith Rowe’s situation at length at his press conference ahead of the 24-year-old facing his old side in the Premier League.
Interestingly, Silva commented on the former Arsenal man’s ‘physical shape’, suggesting that there was a lot more still to come from the ‘Croydon De Bruyne’ as he was affectionately called in north London.
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Discussing Smith Rowe’s season, Silva said: “Some ups and downs, doesn’t surprise us from a player who wasn’t playing a lot of football in the last couple of seasons.
“He’s had good games, others not too good. He needs to find his level to perform consistently well – Premier League demands a lot from you.
“We have been working with him, to be in his best physical shape. He has to take some steps soon. I really like him, trust him, he’s had an impact and he will be in the future too.”
He continued: “People like to look at the negative sides. As a manager, I like to look at the positives.
“We all expected him to have an impact in every game in a Fulham shirt. He’s had an impact in maybe half of the games he’s played.”
Why did Emile Smith Rowe leave Arsenal?
Speaking to the Telegraph back in October of last year, Smith Rowe admitted that his decision to leave Arsenal was predominantly motivated by his game time.
Ian Wright thought Arsenal missed Smith Rowe whilst Martin Odegaard was injured earlier in the season.
However, it seems as if Smith Rowe made the right decision for his own journey.
Explaining the decision, he said: “For the last two seasons I haven’t played as much as I wanted to and it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to be happy again.
“I wanted to be playing. Sometimes you have to think of the best for yourself. I always want to put my club first but at the same time I have to make myself happy.
“It was probably the toughest decision I’ve had to make (to leave). But I spoke to my family and we decided it was the best thing for me.”
