Aston Villa are reportedly preparing a second bid to try and prise Emile Smith Rowe away from Arsenal this summer, having had their first rejected.
As per The Athletic last week, Villa had a £25m offer rejected by the Gunners as we stepped up our efforts to try and sign the 20-year-old.
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While that seemingly signalled the end of that particular pursuit, it appears as though Villa aren’t ready to give up just yet, as The Telegraph report that we’re now lining up a second bid to try and land Smith Rowe this summer.
It’s added that Villa believe a deal ‘is worth exploring’ and so that would suggest that they may well have been given some sort of indication that an improved bid could lead to a deal being done.
Further, the report goes into detail as to how Dean Smith sees the creative ace fitting into his side, as it’s suggested that he could feature in a front three alongside Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia, with Jack Grealish deployed in the No.10 role.
Time will tell if a second bid is officially lodged and whether or not it’s enough to convince Arsenal to sell, but Villa are evidently keen on Smith Rowe this summer and want to try and secure an agreement for him.
The Arsenal ace continued his breakthrough at senior level this past season, scoring four goals and providing seven assists in 34 appearances across all competitions.
In turn, it’s easy to see why Villa would be interested, and adding alongside Grealish and Buendia to provide creativity and goals behind Watkins would undoubtedly make us a very dangerous side moving forward.
That said, it’s difficult to see Arsenal selling given he’s such a top talent, and further, particularly to us as Villa look to continue to shorten the gap and compete for a top-six finish in the Premier League moving forward.