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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings

Arsenal braced for fresh Emile Smith Rowe bid as Crystal Palace plot move

Arsenal are braced for fresh bids for Emile Smith Rowe after rejecting an offer from Fulham.

Crystal Palace are also interested in the midfielder and are expected to make an official approach for him.

Arsenal are open to selling Smith Rowe, who has linked up with the Gunners for the start of pre-season but looks set to leave Emirates Stadium this summer.

The midfielder played just 346 minutes in the Premier League last term and is considering leaving his boyhood club in search of first-team football.

Fulham have made Smith Rowe one of their top summer transfer targets and have money to spend after selling Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich for £47.5million. They are also hopeful of securing a deal for Brazil midfielder Andre to replace Portugal star Palhinha.

But Fulham face competition for Smith Rowe from Palace, who are pressing ahead with ambitious plans to strengthen their squad for next season.

The Eagles have already signed defender Chadi Riad and midfielder Daichi Kamada.

Palace are looking to reinvest the more than £50m they received for Michael Olise from Bayern.

In demand: Fulham and Crystal Palace both want to sign Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Smith Rowe could help fill the creative void left by Olise and is one of a number of players who could leave Arsenal this summer as they continue with their rebuilding plans.

The Gunners started their clear-out by completing deals for Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares. Lokonga has joined Sevilla on loan for the season, while Tavares has joined Lazio on loan.

Aaron Ramsdale, Eddie Nketiah, Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey and Reiss Nelson could follow them out the door.

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