Arsenal have had to say some difficult goodbyes to some talented players in recent years.
Aaron Ramsdale was a fantastic player for Arsenal for a period and a fan favourite, but he had to leave last summer after being replaced by David Raya.
Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney was viewed as a future Arsenal captain at one point, but Tierney is set to return to Celtic this summer.
Emile Smith Rowe is another fan favourite who has left Arsenal in recent years, and speaking to The Big Interview, Smith Rowe has now been discussing his departure from the Emirates.
According to the £34m midfielder, he never actually wanted to leave Arsenal, but, sadly, he felt that he had to go due to his lack of gametime at the Emirates.
Emile Smith Rowe never wanted to leave Arsenal
Smith Rowe spoke about his departure from Arsenal.
The midfielder says he made his mind up to leave the Emirates after a season sat on the bench, but, deep down, he didn’t want to leave the club due to how much he loves the Gunners.
Smith Rowe joined Fulham in the summer, and some believe Arsenal have missed Smith Rowe this season.
“Last season, again I wasn’t playing too much, and I was getting to the age where I wanted to be playing consistently, I wanted to be playing every game. I wasn’t getting that there, so in the summer I sat with my family and said I want to leave sort of thing.
“It was a big jump, something I didn’t want to do at the time, I’d been at Arsenal for a long time, but I’m sure everyone can understand how I was feeling. I couldn’t just sit on the bench the rest of my life.”
Emile Smith Rowe’s recent run at Fulham
Emile Smith Rowe says he had to leave Arsenal because he didn’t want to be on the bench for the rest of his life.
However, Smith Rowe has been condemned to basically the same fate at Fulham recently,
Indeed, despite being a club record signing, Smith Rowe isn’t fancied by Marco Silva at the moment, and, more often than not, he’s been starting on the bench in recent times.
| Emile Smith Rowe Fulham stats | |
| Games | 30 |
| Starts | 23 |
| Sub appearances | 7 |
| Consecutive sub appearances | 3 |
Each of Smith Rowe’s last three appearances have been from the bench, and, throughout this entire season, he’s still not played a full 90 minutes for Fulham.
Smith Rowe was meant to be Fulham’s main man this term, but, so far, things haven’t quite worked out that way for the midfielder, especially in recent weeks where he’s been on the bench more often than not.
