Emile Smith Rowe completed a move from Arsenal to Fulham last week, joining for an initial £27m with an additional £7m of realistic add-ons and a sell-on clause of more than 10%.
As such, while the initial fee is a decent one, Arsenal’s hope will be that Smith Rowe pushes on and hits those add-on targets before completing another big-money move.
In that sense, Arsenal, Fulham, and Smith Rowe himself will all want him to make a fast start with his new club, and he did just that in his debut friendly.
Fulham were taking on Sevilla in a friendly in Portugal on Monday, at the Estadio Algarve. The Spanish side took a 2-0 lead by half-time, before Smith Rowe was introduced at the break.
Just seven minutes later, the 24-year-old had his first Fulham goal, stooping to head home and make it 2-1. Fellow former Gunner Alex Iwobi was quickly on the scene to congratulate him.
Seven minutes into his debut. 😅
💥 @emilesmithrowe pic.twitter.com/P9BYVqEbhH
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 5, 2024
Smith Rowe almost added a second in the 72nd minute, but for a close-range stop from the Sevilla goalkeeper. You can watch the highlights in full here.
Ideally, Smith Rowe would have been playing the friendly fixture against Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga, who is currently on loan with Sevilla.
But the midfielder missed out on the match through injury, and he’s expected to be out for much of the next month.
Fulham will face Hoffenheim in a final friendly on Saturday, before kicking off the Premier League season away to Manchester United. Smith Rowe scored in his only previous start at Old Trafford, and he’ll now look to repeat the trick with his new club.
