Smith Rowe aims to force way into England squad

No sooner had Emile Smith Rowe scored his first goal for boyhood club Arsenal on Thursday night than he had admitted he was hopeful of an England call-up.

On the same day that fellow teenagers Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho were called up to Gareth Southgate’s squad, Smith Rowe must surely have made the England manager take notice with a welltaken goal for Arsenal against Qarabag in the Europa League.

The goal came in only Smith Rowe’s third senior appearance and capped an outstanding display for an 18-year-old who joined the Arsenal academy when he was 10.

Speaking in the aftermath of Arsenal’s 3-0 win in Azerbaijan, Smith Rowe said it was “definitely” achievable for him to work his way into Southgate’s plans.

“It is definitely something I am trying to do in the future and England is a great way to express your ability,” he added.

“They definitely youngsters a chance.”

Smith Rowe has already represented England up to Under-18 level, and said that Mount and Sancho’s inclusion in the England try to give squad for their upcoming Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain heralds a new direction for the national team.

“It just shows that he [Southgate] wants to play the youngsters and England are changing their way of playing now which is getting really good,” said Smith Rowe, who won the Under-17 World Cup alongside Sancho last year.

To even be discussing an England call-up shows how far Smith

Thinking big: Emile Smith Rowe scored for Arsenal against Qarabag in the Europa League Rowe has come in a short space of time. The youngster was only promoted from the Under-23 squad in the summer for Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Singapore, during which he scored a brilliant goal against Atletico Madrid two days before his 18th birthday.

Head coach Unai Emery was so impressed that he refused to sanction a loan move for Smith Rowe, instead believing he would get enough first-team action at Arsenal this season.