I left Arsenal after my family told me to - I finally feel happy again

Emile Smith Rowe admitted that it was a conversation with his family that convinced him to leave Arsenal after spending 14 years with the club

Emile Smith Rowe revealed that he finally feels happy again after leaving Arsenal for Fulham this past summer.

The Hale End academy graduate had been with the north London club since 2010 and established himself as a key player under Mikel Arteta during the 2020/21 season.

A year later, the England international enjoyed the best season of his career, having scored 10 Premier League goals in 33 games, but that's the best it ever got for the 24-year-old who suffered from injuries and faced intense competition in his position the following years.

He played just 25 league games combined in his last two seasons at the Emirates Stadium before deciding to leave his childhood club for Fulham in a deal that could be worth up to £34million.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Smith Rowe revealed that opting to leave Arsenal was the "toughest decision I've had to make" and it was one he made after a frank conversation with his family.

"For the last two seasons I haven’t played as much as I wanted to and it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to be happy again," the midfielder said.

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"I wanted to be playing. Sometimes you have to think of the best for yourself. I always want to put my club first but, at the same time, I have to make myself happy. It was probably the toughest decision I’ve had to make (to leave). But I spoke to my family and we decided it was the best thing for me."

Smith Rowe has made a fabulous start to life at Craven Cottage with two goals scored in seven games with the club sitting eighth in the table.

The smile on the Englishman's face has returned after a tough end to his Arsenal career as he added: "Yeah, I can’t really speak highly enough of everything around me: the club, all the staff. I am really happy. There’s a massive smile on my face."

On top of his desire to play regularly, Smith Rowe pointed out Fulham's project under manager Marco Silva which excited him about the prospect of joining the west London club.

"Just the project that the manager (Marco Silva) spoke to me about," he remarked. "I spoke to him in the summer and we had a really good conversation about the opportunities I would get, where I would be playing and the freedom to express myself.

"That really sucked me into the project, it was mainly that and knowing there were some players here already that I knew would help me settle in."

After narrowly falling to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester City before the international break, the Cottagers return to action on Saturday (October 19) when they host high-flying Aston Villa.

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