Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta may have been proved right to have been cautious over handing Emile Smith Rowe the number 10 shirt before the start of last season.
After just six months in the Gunners first-team, Smith Rowe took it upon himself to request the number 10 shirt vacated by divisive playmaker Mesut Ozil. Upon confirmation of the change in squad number, Arteta admitted he was impressed by the fact Smith Rowe asked for such an iconic number in the club's history.
"I prefer players who ask for more than maybe they can take but if they believe they can do it, don’t put a limit on it," the Gunners boss said last July. "When he asked me and [I] asked the club that he would like to get that [number], OK, let’s go.
