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‘What a great player’… Emile Smith Rowe raves about £25m star Mikel Arteta sold at Arsenal
Arsenal star Emile Smith Rowe has heaped praise on a player who left Arsenal almost three years ago.
The Gunners have developed brilliantly over the last few seasons. Mikel Arteta has transformed them into one of the best teams in Europe, and they are now fighting for the Premier League and Champions League titles this season.
The Arsenal boss’ tactics and management have been getting a lot of praise, but the work he has done behind the scenes with respect to moving players on deserves credit too.
One such player has done a good job since leaving Arsenal, and Smith Rowe has claimed that he really is a ‘great’ footballer.
Emile Smith Rowe praises former Arsenal midfielder
Arsenal have a fantastic first-team squad at the moment, but their academy deserves a ton of praise too.
Hale End has one of the best youth systems in England, and Arsenal have been producing a number of incredible talents in recent years.
Bukayo Saka is the biggest to come out of the Arsenal academy, while Emile Smith Rowe has also shown his class at the top level.
Some academy graduates didn’t quite make it at Arsenal, but they have moved on to other clubs and have become key players for them.
One such player is Joe Willock.
The midfielder joined Arsenal when he was just four years old. He was a Gooner and came through the ranks in the club’s academy before playing 78 games for the senior side.
After a successful loan spell at Newcastle United in the second half of the 2021/22 season, Willock was sold to the Magpies for £25 million ().
He has been brilliant for them since, and Smith Rowe has branded him as a ‘great player’ now.
Speaking about fellow Arsenal academy graduates who have become rivals now, Smith Rowe told the : “It’s true, it seems like in most of the games now there is someone you have been with at some point.
“Joe Willock scored against us recently, which didn’t surprise me because we know what a great player he is.”
- WATCH: Joe Willock’s emotional goodbye video to Arsenal below👇
How Arsenal ‘hurt’ Joe Willock before selling him
Arsenal was all Joe Willock knew before he joined Newcastle United on loan in January 2022.
The Englishman was always highly rated at Hale End, and his dream, like all the players around him, was to become a star player for Arsenal.
However, after his impressive loan spell at Newcastle United, Arsenal received an offer for Willock, and the Gunners decided that selling him was the best decision.
A few months after his permanent move to St James’ Park, Willock opened up on his departure, and he claimed that he was ‘hurt’ by how Arsenal treated him.
He said: “I wasn’t valued at Arsenal, that became clear. When I had a meeting with them, it was obvious they wanted me to go. Yeah, it hurt.”
“I would probably have drifted for another year had I stayed. I’d been there since I was four-and-a-half years old. I’d given my life to Arsenal. At that meeting it just felt like my time was up. I didn’t feel valued anymore and that was it, I was going to sign for Newcastle after that.”