Arsenal 24yo leaves training to complete transfer exit
Emile Smith Rowe has left Arsenal’s United States training camp to sign for Fulham, with a deal now agreed, according to reports.
Sky Sports News broke the news on Monday that Fulham and Arsenal had reached an agreement in principle for the signing of Emile Smith Rowe.
The agreement is for an initial fee of £27m, with add-ons potentially taking the total to £34m.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed those figures, before later adding that Smith Rowe had already left Arsenal’s training camp to travel to Fulham for a medical and contract signing.
Dom Smith reports for The Standard that the medical is booked for the next 24 hours, with the player now in the UK.
Romano wrote that Marco Silva was key to the deal, convincing Smith Rowe to join Fulham ahead of the many other clubs that wanted him.
The journalist also reported that part of the reason Arsenal accepted the £27m plus £7m deal was because of very good conditions on the payment terms.
Mikel Arteta was asked about the deal in his press conference, but he remained tight-lipped, saying: “I cannot talk about this, that they haven’t done yet.”
The deal is Fulham’s record signing, and one of Arsenal’s biggest sales, eclipsed only marginally by the sales of the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool for £35m.
That seems like a good outcome for the Gunners, considering Smith Rowe only played 475 minutes for Arsenal last season across 19 appearances (four starts).
The England international clearly has the talent to star for Fulham, but he’d found himself surplus to requirements at Arsenal. The move made sense for all parties.