Journalist Charles Watts has claimed that Arsenal could make around £40m if they opted to cash in on Emile Smith Rowe this summer amid uncertainty over his future.
What's the latest Arsenal transfer news?
With Champions League football on offer next season, you can expect the Gunners to be busy as they look to strengthen their squad and offload unwanted players.
The first step to this looks to be the sale of Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen, which may help fund a move for West Ham United ace Declan Rice.
No doubt, though, more players will be sold to make way for alternative squad options for Mikel Arteta and there has been talk that Smith Rowe could be one man on the market.
While talking about this possibility on his YouTube channel, Watts explained that talks about the player's future will happen behind the scenes in the coming months, but suggested that he could be sued to bring in "significant funds”.
He said: (11:16): “If Arsenal do agree to sell Smith Rowe, which we'll have to wait and see – talks will happen about that at some point in the summer.
“You know, again, £30m for Smith Rowe/£40m for Smith Rowe, when you sort of compare him to other young English players.
"Arsenal have got the opportunity for the first time in a long time to really bring in some significant funds.”
What are Emile Smith Rowe's wages?
Seeing as Aston Villa once bid £30m for the midfielder it's not hard to see why Watts believes the Englishman could bring in a sizable chunk of change this summer.
After all, that offer was rejected in 2021, and then Smith Rowe went on to score 10 league goals the following season, surely adding to his transfer value.
However, this term – partly due to injuries – he has been on the outskirts of Arteta's plans, seeing just 146 minutes of action in the Premier League up to this point.
On only £40k-p/w, at least wages wouldn't be a major concern for any teams who do want to sign Smith Rowe. Even so, it remains unclear how much Arsenal will actually demand – if they even intend to sell him – but after playing little football over the past 12 months, his value may well have decreased somewhat.
All in all, it seems as though the player's future is still up in the air.