Arsenal: The 5 players that can save the Gunners millions

3. Emile Smith Rowe

Mesut Ozil will turn 32 in October. His crippling £350,000-per-week contract expires in 2021. He is almost certainly set to leave the club at the end of next season — if not this summer — without taking a major reduction in pay. Either way, Arsenal must find a long-term successor.

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Productive attacking midfielders who can entirely conduct matches, create chances, and even score goals are extremely rare. There are perhaps only three or four elite options in world football right now. In Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City have the best proponent of this position. That is the type of player that Arsenal must look for, but they are very difficult to find and even more expensive to buy.

However, Emile Smith Rowe has been favourably compared to de Bruyne. The 19-year-old is currently on loan at Huddersfield Town but has more in common with de Bruyne than just a vaguely blonde-ginger barnet. He carries the ball with purpose and precision, he is creative and probing with his distribution, and he even has an eye for goal.

These are, of course, big comparisons for a teenager who has played only 12 games for Arsenal in his career. And by no means should they be the expectations for his career. Rather, they are what he could become, which is an elite-level attacking midfielder and the successor to Ozil. If that is indeed what he does unlock, Arsenal will save themselves shed loads.