‘Special player’: Dan Ballard full of praise for Arsenal teammate Emile Smith-Rowe

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Arsenal loanee and young defender, Dan Ballard, believes Emile Smith-Rowe will go on to have a great career after emerging as a Gunners star this season.

Smith-Rowe has been thrust into the spotlight by Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard chucking Smith-Rowe into the thick of things with the Gunners struggling to create and score goals.

The tactic has paid off, big time. Three wins in a row, with Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka integral to those wins, has boosted Arsenal’s season and pulled them well clear of any relegation trouble.

And Ballard, who is on loan with Blackpool this season, was full of praise for Smith-Rowe.

“Having played with them, you can see the qualities they all have,” said Ballard. “Not just Emile and Bukayo, but Eddie, Reiss and Joe. But Emile is a special player. He’s a player I think that every manager would want in their team,” Ballard told Goal.

“He’s a real team player and I think he really suits Arsenal. He gets the ball and moves it, he runs at the defenders. He just suits the way Arsenal play and he’s someone who will definitely go to the very top.”

Smith-Rowe honed his craft last season while on loan with Huddersfield and was on the periphery of things in the opening third of the season.

However, a lack of form from the likes of Willian and Nicolas Pepe has opened the door and Smith-Rowe has seized his chance.

Arsenal’s future looking bright – TBR View

Ballard knows the Arsenal youngsters well and in Smith-Rowe, Saka, and Martinelli, Arsenal have three players there who could well achieve great things.

Supplement those three with some other talents like Nelson and Willock, and things are looking up for the Gunners.

The next few years could be an important spell for the club. If they add the right experience and quality around these young guns, then the sky could be the limit.