Martin Keown Suggested Emile Smith Rowe Could Be As Good As Cristiano Ronaldo

Martin Keown suggested that Emile Smith Rowe could be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo, as the young Arsenal midfielder was substituted on Sunday afternoon.

Smith Rowe has been at the heart of an upturn in form from Mikel Arteta's side, with the young number 10 showing the kind of creativity the Gunners have been missing.

The 20-year-old has had to play some games out wide, since the arrival of Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid, but started centrally at the weekend against Leicester City.

After going behind early, Arteta's side equalised in the 39th minute but celebrations were soon tempered as Smith Rowe was replaced by Odegaard because of an injury.

On commentary it was noted that Odegaard had made his Real debut coming on for Ronaldo, with Keown piping up to say, "[Smith Rowe] Isn't that good yet, but he might be in the future."

Arteta is likely to be more concerned with making sure the youngster keeps on playing at his current level, and improving, rather than think about him being as good as a five time Ballon d'Or winner.

In the immediate future though, the manager is worried about the hip injury the England under 20 player suffered, "I'm concerned because for Emile to come out and say, 'I cannot continue playing'... It should be something related to his hip.

"I don't know how bad he is but he was in a good place after the game."

The win at the weekend took the Emirates side momentarily above their rivals Spurs, but Jose Mourinho's team went back above them with a 4-0 win over Burnley.