Emile Smith Rowe denied Arsenal farewell against Bournemouth as he closes in on £37million Fulham transfer

EMILE SMITH ROWE was denied a farewell to Arsenal fans as he was left on the bench for Arsenal's pre-season draw with Bournemouth.

It comes as Fulham have agreed a club record £37million deal to bring Smith Rowe to Craven Cottage.

Mikel Arteta all-but confirmed his departure when asked why Smith Rowe was benched as he said: "There are things happening in the background at the moment.

"We decided the best thing to do was to keep him away from the game today.”

Smith Rowe has struggled with injury over the past two seasons and will be hoping a move to West London will revitalise his career.

The midfielder, 23, played an important part in the early part of Mikel Arteta's reign, with the manager finding success by playing youth players such as Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

In the 2021-22 season, he managed ten goals and two assists in 33 Premier League appearances.

But an injury ravaged two seasons since then meant he has played just 25 Premier League games in the last two years - with many of these appearances coming from the bench.

As well as being a club record transfer for Fulham, the fee will also be Arsenal's joint highest sale.

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It matches the money Arsenal received for selling Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool in 2017.

The fee received for Smith Rowe will help Arsenal fund their imminent deal for Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori.

Calafiori will join the Gunners for around £42m.

Asked about Calafiori's move, Arteta said: "There is no update. As soon as we have something to say we will be the first one to say.

"You know I don’t like talking about external players. But this is the situation at the moment."

Arsenal drew the first game of their US pre-season tour 1-1 with Bournemouth.

Fabio Vieira opened the scoring for the Gunners before Antoine Semenyo equalised after 73 minutes.

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