It's almost a year to the day since Emile Smith Rowe signed his much-anticipated contract extension with Arsenal. With it came the club's famous No. 10 shirt and a ringing endorsement of his promotion to first-team status within the Gunners dressing room.
Despite having ended the season as Arsenal's second highest scorer and becoming the proud owner of one half of one of the Emirates Stadium's catchiest chants, the ups of the past 12 months have been complimented by their fair share of downs for Smith Rowe.
He began the campaign with eight goals in his first 17 appearances and forced his way into an intimidatingly top-heavy England squad before injuries at the back end of the season robbed him of his rhythm and regular starting place. As he reflects on his first full year as an established member of Mikel Arteta 's Gunners side though, the 21-year-old is keen to focus on the positives as he looks to the next one.
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"I think it’s been a good year," he says. "I signed my new contract and I made my debut for England. So in general, I can obviously be proud of myself and I can be happy with it. But at the same time, I have been quite unfortunate with injuries and stuff. It’s just (about) trying to overcome that now and trying to stay as fit as possible. Hopefully I can get back fit soon."
Right now, Smith Rowe is dealing with another injury problem that looks set to keep him out of Wednesday night's pre-season friendly with Orlando City. Having seen his momentum plagued last year by little niggles, picking up another one will undoubtedly be frustrating, but it's not something he's not experienced before.
Despite being just over a week away from his 22nd birthday, Smith Rowe has already had his fair share of time on the treatment table. His loan spell with RB Leipzig was blighted by a hip injury that saw him miss a year of football, while his breakthrough season with Arsenal was delayed by a dislocated shoulder that sidelined him for three months. This experience, though, is something the Hale Ender believes has taught him the ability to value what he holds most dear.
"No, not really," he says when asked if he struggles with the psychological aspects of injuries. "Obviously I have good people around me – my family – they always keep me happy and I just like to spend time with them when I do go through these hard times.
"So it’s not really the mind, I’m quite strong in the head so I never really let the injuries get to me. It’s just annoying I can’t be with my team-mates. I think that’s the hardest bit for me – just not being around them every day, training away from them."
"If there’s football on TV, I always want to watch it, no matter what game," he says of how he likes to spend his time when he is on the sidelines. "But at the same time, when I leave the training ground, I try to not think about football too much. I think about other things that I like doing – spending time with family, my friends, going out for dinner – healthy dinner! – spending quality time with my people. I don’t get a lot of time to do that."
As the conversation is taking place we are surrounded by a group of ecstatic US fans who have been surprised by Smith Rowe's appearance at a party celebrating the launch of Arsenal's new away kit. One of the quirks of having broken into the first team in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic for the 21-year-old is that events like this are relatively new to him. Social media means that he's fully aware of the adoration he has from the Gunners fan base en masse, but chances to meet his supporters in person like this have been few and far between.
One of those who he has met is Aston Mack, who came to prominence after wearing a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shirt to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Orlando. Mack cites the reason for his decision to put on his Arsenal shirt that day as the sense of strength and community it gave him during a time when he felt at his most defeated in his country after George Floyd's murder. Smith Rowe has spent plenty of time with Mack during the kit launch and admits hearing the stories on fans' connections to the club is something he enjoys and wants to do more of.
"I think it’s really important to understand and listen to other people’s stories," he says. "You don’t get to listen as much as we’d like – it’s quite hard to interact with the fans sometimes, we don’t get the time as well. So it’s just good to hear what they’ve been through."
Smith Rowe is not the only Arsenal player in attendance at the party in Orlando. Rob Holding, Aaron Ramsdale and Gabriel Jesus were also there to a chorus of shocked giddiness from the fans who had only been expecting to do an Arsenal-themed pub quiz on the day.
As the Gunners players beam through a Q and A with these supporters, what is obvious is how clearly they seem to be genuinely enjoying each other's company. This is a stark contrast to the sense of apathy and dissatisfaction that protruded the club's dressing room during the latter days of Unai Emery 's era and is certainly no coincidence. Manager Mikel Arteta has been keen to build a family at London Colney and has made attempts to continue that while his team are out in America.
"I think it’s been there for a couple of seasons now," Smith Rowe says of the upbeat mood in the camp. "But since we’ve come here, we’ve just done some activities and even at dinner we’re sitting on different tables: they’ve put all the tables and different names on a roulette, with the staff and players all mixed together. So it’s just good to be split up.
"There’s something that goes on and you’re all on different tables every meal of the day. It’s on a board – you’ll have your name on each table and that’s where you have to sit."
This policy has brought some of the more shy players - of whom Smith Rowe admits he is one - out of their shells, while helping to quickly integrate some of the new signings into the group. Smith Rowe's slightly surprising answer when asked who he would like to sit next to the most is testament to this.
"I would sit next to Marquinhos," he says. "He’s just come, new signing, he’s very funny, I get along with him well. His English is not great but I’m teaching him a little bit. He’s a good guy, he’s settled in well."
As much as building squad harmony is a benefit of this American tour though, there is no mistaking that Arsenal are out here to prepare for the upcoming season. Having missed out on last season's top four by just two points to fierce rivals Tottenham, the desire to get back in Europe's top tier competition this time around is abundantly clear.
Smith Rowe will be a part of that, but he has a battle on his hands if he is to be as regularly involved as he would like this season. The battle between him and Gabriel Martinelli for the starting left wing spot was fierce towards the back end of last season, and with new signings Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira to compete with alongside Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, the 21-year-old is far from guaranteed a starting spot.
There is also the potential of a spot in Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad to serve as further motivation to get in the team. For now though, Smith Rowe isn't thinking that far ahead. He has set himself some clear individual goals and it seems that they will be his main priority in the coming months.
"I think it’s every kid’s dream to play in a World Cup," he says. "But I just want to get as fit as possible and when I do come back, hopefully I can get as many minutes as possible to show what I can do. And then we’ll see what happens.
"I think (I want to) just carry on getting my stats – scoring goals, creating more goals for my team-mates. That’s what I’m going to try and work on this season. I didn’t really get many assists last season so just creating goals for my team-mates is one big factor I’m going to try and improve this season."
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