Arsenal are reportedly open to letting Emile Smith Rowe leave the club before the summer transfer window closes on Friday.
The England international was a shining light for Arsenal during the 2021-22 campaign, netting 10 Premier League goals and largely keeping Gabriel Martinelli out of the team.
However, following a serious groin injury and subsequent operation, Smith Rowe has returned to the fringes of Mikel Arteta's squad and did not start a single Premier League game last season.
The 23-year-old is also yet to earn any top-flight minutes in the current campaign, and he was only brought off the bench for the final three minutes of the Community Shield.
Nevertheless, Smith Rowe is held in high regard by Arsenal fans and is under contract at the Emirates for another three years, but Chelsea are thought to be planning a surprise swoop in the final days of the window.
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Given their need to raise funds before September 1, The Times reports that Arsenal would consider selling Smith Rowe for the right price, even to a direct Premier League rival.
Furthermore, the Englishman is alleged to be growing frustrated with his lack of game time in North London, and Chelsea are supposedly one of several Premier League clubs to have been offered his services.
Arsenal would still demand at least £40m to let their home-grown product leave, two years after turning down a pair of approaches from Aston Villa, who offered up to £30m.
On the back of his disrupted 2022-23 season, Smith Rowe returned to form during the Under-21 European Championships, scoring two goals and setting up one more as England beat Spain in the final.
Despite starring for the Young Lions, Smith Rowe is still below Fabio Vieira, Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in the left-wing pecking order, while Kai Havertz's arrival has increased competition for midfield starts.
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The 2000-born attacker has been on the books at Arsenal since 2010 and has now made 97 appearances for the senior team since coming through their Hale End academy, scoring 18 goals and setting up 11 more.
The Arsenal youth graduate could form part of a late exodus from the Emirates in the coming days, as fellow youngster Folarin Balogun is on the verge of a club-record move to Monaco.
Rob Holding is also expected to depart amid interest from clubs in Spain, where he could link up with Kieran Tierney, who will spend the 2023-24 season on loan with Real Sociedad.
Nicolas Pepe, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Cedric Soares have also been training away from the main group, but aside from Nottingham Forest target Tavares, Arsenal are struggling to find suitors for their unwanted crop.
Smith Rowe could reinforce a Chelsea firing line coping without Carney Chukwuemeka, Armando Broja and Christopher Nkunku due to injuries, while Mykhaylo Mudryk is also nursing an unspecified issue.
Ben Knapton
