Nigel Winterburn has warned Arsenal against the sale of Emile Smith Rowe, who is claimed to be of interest to Aston Villa.
The 20 year-old enjoyed a fine breakthrough campaign in North London, breaking into the first-team on Boxing Day, only to quickly earn a regular role in the team with a string of consistent performances.
His season clearly attracted plenty of positive attention, and the Villains are said to have already made two bids to sign him, and they are claimed to have been encouraged into considering a third offer.
Former defender Winterburn has claimed it would ‘a disaster’ to allow ESR to leave however.
He told NetBet(via Football365): “If we were to let him go it would be a disaster, it would send out completely the wrong messages to our supporters.
“He’s a young player who’s had his breakthrough season, he’s been hugely impressive, and we cannot afford to let him go. I do genuinely believe it would have such a negative impact on the club, we’ve got some good attacking young talent and to sell to another Premier League club would be a complete disaster.”
I completely agree with Winterburn, although feel more strongly about how important a player ESR could be for the club in the coming years, on top of how it would look for the other younger players who are looking to break into the first-team.
Could Arsenal seriously be considering such a sale?
Patrick