Emile Smith Rowe leaves Arsenal training camp to undergo Fulham medical ahead of £34m transfer

Emile Smith Rowe will undergo a medical at Fulham in the next 24 hours ahead of his £34million move from Arsenal.

Fulham will pay £27m spread across four years, plus a further £7m in add-ons, representing a club-record transfer fee.

The midfielder left Arsenal’s pre-season tour in the United States on Monday and his medical will be completed within the next day.

Fulham plan to fly him to Portugal to join the squad on their pre-season campaign. He could make his debut as early as Friday, when they face Benfica, before playing Sevilla next Monday.

The rest of the squad were flying to the Algarve on Tuesday.

Smith Rowe had also been of interest to Crystal Palace this summer, but Standard Sport understands the Eagles backed away after deciding the financial risk of a move was too high.

The 24-year-old had endured a difficult few years at Arsenal, hampered by injuries and ultimately dropping out of Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up. He sees joining Fulham as a chance to kickstart a career resurgence.

He saw just 346 minutes of Premier League action last season and his last Arsenal goal came in April 2022.

Smith Rowe earnt three England caps, scoring against San Marino in 2021, and joined Arsenal’s Hale End Academy aged 10.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hinted heavily at Smith Rowe’s imminent exit last week when he said “things are happening in the background”.

Smith Rowe’s arrival will help to bolster the club’s attacking quality after Bobby De Cordova-Reid rejected two offers of a new deal before joining newly promoted Leicester City for free upon the expiry of his contract this month.

Smith Rowe will be Fulham’s second signing of the summer, after academy product Ryan Sessegnon rejoined the club last week.

The full-back left Fulham in 2019 to join Tottenham, but injury plagued his time at Spurs and he left as a free agent in June.

Fulham remain in the market for a defensive midfielder to replace Joao Palhinha, who joined Bayern Munich earlier this month for £47.5m after a year-long transfer saga.

Manager Marco Silva also insists the club must sign two centre-backs ready to step straight into the first team, after losing Tosin Adarabioyo at the end of last season.

Adarabioyo ran down his contract before joining Chelsea on a free transfer.