‘He’s pushing’: Mikel Arteta says he is now ‘very close’ to giving 22-year-old Arsenal player a start

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Mikel Arteta has hinted that Emile Smith Rowe could soon be back in his starting XI at Arsenal.

The England midfielder has barely had a sniff so far this season after being plagued with injury issues alongside the arrivals of Leandro Trossard and Fabio Vieira.

The 22-year-old has had a really tough campaign, but according to Arteta, speaking in his pre-match press conference, the midfielder is pushing hard to get back into the Arsenal team.

Smith Rowe is pushing

The Arsenal boss gave his verdict on Smith Rowe and his impending return to the team.

“He’s pushing, and in football what you did a year ago, a month ago is not important, it’s about what you do now, what you do yesterday and what you do tomorrow. The player has to have that mindset and the contribution has to be now to the team has to make us better and to make us win games. He’s very close,” Arteta said.

Must be impressing

Emile Smith Rowe must be doing something right if Arteta is thinking about putting him back into the Arsenal team.

Indeed, with a handful of games to go in the season and the title on the line, you have to be doing something extraordinary to force your way back into a midfield that has barely put a foot wrong this term.

Of course, the question is where does Smith Rowe start if he’s going to come back?

Gabriel Martinelli has been amazing down the left side, while Leandro Trossard has been equally as brilliant, so it’s tough for him to get into the team there, while it’s also difficult to see Arteta dropping club captain Martin Odegaard at this point.

It will be intriguing to see how Smith Rowe is handled in the coming weeks as Arteta and Arsenal make their final push to win the league.