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.
"We talked a little bit, we discussed it and he knows the consequences of that, but he feels prepared to do it and if he is prepared to do it, then I am going to be right behind him to try to make him as comfortable and as happy as possible to do what he wants to do."
A few months prior at the tail end of the 2020/21 campaign, Arteta shed light on what he views as an acceptable return in terms of goal contributions for whoever dons the 10 shirt for Arsenal.
"An incredible season for a number 10 of Arsenal means he needs to score 15 goals and give 10 assists," the Spaniard added. "Then you are right up there with the top guys in Europe and in the league. He's [Smith Rowe] got the ability to do it but he hasn't done it.
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"We need to stay calm with him, give him the right support and step by step I think he will be getting there." Fast forward 12 months and that numbers speak for themselves - Smith Rowe fell short of the targets set by his manager.
The first half of Smith Rowe's 2021/22 campaign was littered with goals and impressive performances, including vital strikes against the likes of fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City. However, his form undeniably tailed off come the turn of the year.
Just two of the attacking midfielder's 10 Premier League goals came in 2022, while his assist numbers were even more woeful. Just two all season, both came before November.
In turn, Smith Rowe did not actually set up another teammate for a goal for all of the Premier League games he played in the second half of the season. Hardly the kind of form befitting of a player donning the same number as the likes of Robin van Persie, Jack Wilshere and Dennis Bergkamp.
