‘Hungry to play’: £40k-a-week Arsenal player looked desperate to impress vs Barcelona

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Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith Rowe looked back to full fitness and was hungry to impress to against FC Barcelona in today’s friendly.

That’s according to journalist Charles Watts who praised the midfielder in Arsenal’s 5-3 win against the coveted La Liga side.

Smith Rowe came on as a sub and Watts was very impressive with his levels.

Watts said: “Best thing about that is how well players who are pushing for starting spots performed.

“Trossard making such a strong case for starting in the PL. Smith Rowe looks so fit and hungry to play.

“Excellent cameos from Vieira and Tierney. Competition looks very strong.”

Mikel Arteta has already mentioned that Smith Rowe returned for Arsenal pre-season full of positive change.

Arteta mentioned that he had worked very hard to be fit for England’s under-21s following last season’s groin surgery.

Arteta seems very keen for Smith Rowe to once again be a key cog for Arsenal, and it does seem his ability has almost been forgotten at times.

Arsenal were sensibly very patient with the Englishman when he returned last season.

£40k-a-week Smith Rowe underwent significant surgery and returned lacking match fitness.

Given Arsenal were locked into an intense title race it didn’t seem the right time to reintroduce him to the fold.

Arteta instead was clever and protected the 22-year-old in order for him to hit the ground running this season.

Arteta will need to rely on Smith Rowe’s fitness at Arsenal this season

In order to go one better than last season’s second-place finish Arsenal will need their whole squad to be a factor this year.

Arteta’s side relied heavily on a consistent starting 11, in part because of the injuries to Emile Smith Rowe.

However, with players returning from injury, players arriving on transfers and those improving all the time, Arteta will now have added confidence.

The likes of Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah will all be needing to give their manager a big selection headache.

Arsenal’s trajectory has often drawn strong parallels to that of Manchester City, where competition for places are at a premium.

Mikel Arteta will therefore be very relieved to see the likes of Smith Rowe returning to pre-season with such a positive attitude and fitness.