Arsenal: Emile Smith Rowe exactly where he needs to be

Emile Smith Rowe is flourishing as a central attacking midfielder for Huddersfield Town. The Arsenal prospect is exactly where he needs to be to flourish in the future.

Arsenal have not always enjoyed the best of the loan system. While they have had plenty of vastly talented young players, their decision-making in the market has been wayward, to say the least. Opportunities have come and gone, potential missed, and loan seasons wasted. But this time around, the Gunners might finally have hit a home run.

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This January, the club loaned out young midfielder Emile Smith Rowe to Huddersfield Town. The 19-year-old was not set to get many opportunities in north London and Mikel Arteta wanted to see how he would handle senior football. Well, the initial prognosis is very positive indeed.

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This is his teammate, Lewis O’Brien, speaking about Smith Rowe’s talents to The Examiner last week:

"“Emile is a brilliant player. When young kids come into the team – as everyone probably felt when I got in the side – everybody judges because of their age, but age doesn’t matter. The way he plays the game he seems miles older than he is and he’s a top-class player – a brilliant player to have in the team.”"

Those same lofty sentiments were also made his manager, Danny Cowley. As reported by The Yorkshire Post, Cowley said:

"“He is a really good player. He has the ability to speed the game up and always finds space and moves away from the ball. You see so many young players who always want to move to the ball. But he is just as happy to move away from it and find his space. Then he speeds the play up for you. He executes the basics really well.”"

Upon his arrival, Smith Rowe was immediately excited about what was to come at Huddersfield. When speaking with the club’s official YouTube account, Smith Rowe explained the system he would be playing in and how it suits his game and development:

"“I spoke to Danny [Cowley] and he told me he’d like to play me as a No.10. or as [one of the] two No.8.s which are both my preferred positions. He’s put a lot of faith in me and I can’t wait to get started Huddersfield have a lot of great players and the 4-2-3-1 is a good formation for me to get in the No.10. position and I can’t wait to meet the players and get training <…> I think it was important for me to get this opportunity and it’s a great chance for me to play.”"

Smith Rowe has already made four league starts for the Terriers. He has played more than 80 minutes in all four of those matches, scoring once and adding an assist, both coming in a Man of the Match display against Fulham. He has already played more minutes for Huddersfield that he has for Arsenal this season, despite spending six months in north London.

Smith Rowe is playing regular, is starting in what he sees is his best position, and is flourishing. He is exactly where he needs to be, which bodes well for the remainder of the year and his return to Arsenal next season.