Arsenal and Emile Smith Rowe: Was RB Leipzig a mistake?

Emile Smith Rowe has not played one minute during his loan at RB Leipzig. Did Arsenal make a mistake sending the 18-year-old to the German club?

In January, Arsenal decided that they could not provide Emile Smith Rowe with the required playing time to continue his development as he attempts to make the difficult step up from the youth to senior level.

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Given their doubts about how many opportunities he would be handed at the Emirates, it made sense for the Gunners to look for potential loan destination. Smith Rowe, at 18, is at the age where playing regularly is absolutely necessary. There was little point in him sitting in the reserves, especially with Denis Suarez’s arrival adding another option in midfield.

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And so, Arsenal chose to loan out Smith Rowe. The destination? RB Leipzig of the Bundesliga, a team renowned for its development of young players and willingness to thrust them into the first team. This week, in a riveting interview with Goal that covered the whole of the youth development at London Colney, Head of the Academy, Per Mertesacker, laid out the reasoning behind the decision:

"“I think for Smith Rowe that it is really important to see him go on loan for half a year to see him have this great experience in the Bundesliga [at RB Leipzig]. That sits right below the Premier League, in terms of tempo. I think to go from the Under-23s to Germany and then coming back to the Premier League gives a good step between. Leipzig are a team that play with tempo, a lot of pressing and they want to win the ball quickly back. We think that suits him quite well.”"

That seems rather sound reasoning to me.

However, hindsight is a wonderful thing and it does not shine favourably on Mertesacker’s choice. While Leipzig may have been a team that play in a similar manner to how Unai Emery wants his team to play, and while the Bundesliga may be seen as the ideal level to act as a stepping stone to Premier League football, Smith Rowe actually has to play to reap any of these benefits. And thus far, that has not been the case.

Smith Rowe is yet to play for even a minute at Leipzig. Leipzig have played seven Bundesliga matches since his move abroad. He missed the first four with a groin strain, so was understandably not in the matchday squads. However, he has been available for the last three matches and was still not included in the matchday squads. He also missed a DFB-Pokal match against Wolfsburg with that very strained groin.

Obviously, none of Mertesacker, Smith Rowe, Arsenal or Leipzig can be blamed for an injury. It happens, sadly. But the fact that Smith Rowe has been fit for all of March and still hasn’t even made a matchday squad is a little concerning, and perhaps hints at limited time being available between now and the end of the season, especially with the emergence of fellow young midfielder, Tyler Adams.

Whether Arsenal made a mistake or not in sending Smith Rowe to Leipzig or not, it is difficult to say. Mertesacker and the club did not have the hindsight that we have now. But his lack of playing time is certainly troubling. Let’s hope that it does not continue for too much longer.