Arsenal told they will regret selling 'top player' after latest performance

Fulham boss Marco Silva is confident Emile Smith Rowe will become a top player, which means Arsenal 's decision to sell him this summer may be one they live to regret.

The 24-year-old is a product of the Gunner's academy and had loan spells at both RB Leipzig and Huddersfield Town before he broke into the first team. Although he has amassed over 100 senior appearances for Arsenal, Smith Rowe's game time was minimal last season as he started just three Premier League games, which equated to less than 400 minutes of action.

Smith Rowe's place in the pecking order prompted a search for first team football elsewhere, and Arsenal sanctioned a permanent move to London rivals Fulham in early August. It was a club-record fee for the Cottagers, and it's a deal that is already paying off as he has scored three and assisted two in just 13 league appearances this term.

Smith Rowe produced a match-winning performance on Saturday against Crystal Palace as he scored the opening goal before half-time. The display prompted praise from his manager as Silva backed the attacking midfielder to become a top player.

"Sometimes the most expensive ones are the players that don't perform. When you saw him, and we had a small chance to fight to have him here, I told our board that we need to fight with everything we can because we needed a player like him," Silva told the BBC.

"Creative in those pocket areas, a player who will score more throughout the season - I don't have doubts - he's a lovely kid, a lovely boy who is going to become a man and improve. He's already a really good player, he's going to be a top player. It's so nice to have a talent like him to work with."

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has already expressed his views on losing Smith Rowe as the young midfielder was a key player in the early days of his tenure. "I have a feeling like ‘argh’, that I have not got the best out of him," Arteta told a press conference at the beginning of the season.

"Obviously a lot of things happened in that time. From my side it was really sad, because I know how those boys feel when they are in that building, how hard everyone works to get them close to the first team, so I feel a huge responsibility to give them the chance. And now, can they sustain this level and make us better? That is the idea.”

While some sections of the fanbase have already raised the question whether Arsenal have a buy-back clause in the deal with Fulham, football.london has already reported that is not the case. However, they do have a 10 per cent sell-on clause should he be sold further down the line.