Sky Sports journalist drops Emile Smith Rowe update amid fresh West Ham United and Arsenal transfer speculation
West Ham United are unlikely to sign Emile Smith Rowe on loan for the rest of the season after making an approach to Arsenal, according to Florian Plettenberg.
Writing on his personal Twitter account (19 January), the German journalist reports that talks are currently ongoing between the Hammers and the Gunners for a deal for the 23-year-old attacker.
But a deal is seen as “very unlikely” at this stage, with Arsenal making it clear they want to keep Smith Rowe for their title charge and Champions League campaign.
“At this stage, a loan deal between Emile Smith Rowe and West Ham is very unlikely,” he wrote.
“Arsenal have made clear that they want to keep the 23 y/o midfielder.
“Talks ongoing..”
Shame
Anyone who has been paying attention to the way Arsenal are doing things right now will not be surprised that they don’t want to let Smith Rowe leave.
He is a very young player with good experience but clear room for improvement, but he is struggling for game time after a serious injury and finds himself behind some incredible talent in the pecking order.
West Ham would be a remarkable place for him to land and his ability to play on the left wing or in the number ten role means there would certainly be a chance for him to get more game time too.
With Lucas Paqueta suffering with injury and Mohammed Kudus away at AFCON he could come in and play quickly, but he’s also capable of holding down a place in the team beyond that with Europa League and Premier League games to come.
It would be a great signing but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he didn’t arrive because we have a lot of quality too and nobody has left yet, which means we’re not weaker.
In other West Ham news, Hammers to make brand new transfer official “in next few hours”.
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