West Ham are reported to have ‘first refusal’ on a potential deal for Arsenals Emile Smith-Rowe, however this has been dismissed by ExWHUEmployee.

Our Hammers were engaged in dialogue with the Gunners over a large period of the summer, as the negotiations over the sale of Declan Rice rumbled on, with the England midfielder eventualy moving to north London for £105m.

Reports are now suggesting in the media that part of the deal saw an agreement be reached in which West Ham would get first refusal on a possible deal for midfielder Smith-Rowe.

Despite the noise from various media outlets, our man in the know, ExWHUEmployee, has categorically denied these claims, whilst reporting on The West Ham Way Patreon.

“Reports have been circulating today that West Ham have first refusal on a deal for Emile Smith-Rowe of Arsenal,” he confirmed. “We put this to a top source at the club when it comes to transfers to check whether the story has any legs and we were simply told ‘not true.’ So there we have it.”

He is the type of player that would probably have thrived under Moyes but, with Mohammed Kudus joining in the Summer, it’s unlikely that he’d be a priority anyway.

As always, Ex provided has us with some much needed clarity on the situation exclusively on Patreon.

By Charlie Bass