TalkSport pundit Tony Cascarino has clamied that Arsenal plan on having more expectations of Emile Smith Rowe next season.

What is going on with Emile Smith Rowe?

It's been an off-season for the Englishman after injuries derailed the first half of his campaign, but he's failed to make any real impact on the team even when fit.

As a result, there has been talk in the media that he could be sold this summer. For instance, Charles Watts wrote for Goal: "The Hale End graduate may have barely featured this season, but he remains a massively popular with the fanbase.

"It’s clear, though, that he’s way down the pecking order under Arteta at present, and with Arsenal expected to bring in more than one midfield addition this summer, Smith Rowe could be deemed as expendable, should a decent offer arrive."

In the same article, he also mentioned Chelsea's Mason Mount could be a target for the Gunners this summer, as someone to potentially replace the 22-year-old in Mikel Arteta's plans.

While speaking about that possibility on the TalkSport YouTube channel, however, Cascarino dropped a hint that Arsenal may yet have big hopes for Smith Rowe.

He said: “The only thing I've heard of only thing is that there's a lot more expectation on Smith Rowe at Arsenal next year.

"Yeah, you know, would he [Mount] be challenging for that? Because Smith Rowe had a very strange season, a lot of injuries didn't quite get going. But there's a real talent there with Smith Rowe."

Will Arsenal give Smith Rowe another chance?

Alongside his small number of league appearances, it's even more worrying that Smith Rowe didn't even get much of a chance in the cup competitions.

Indeed, he played just once each in the Europa League, FA Cup, and didn't feature in the Carabao Cup (though that was due to injury).

And his fitness has been a real problem over the years, despite his young age, and so perhaps Arteta will be ruthless and decide he can't trust Smith Rowe's body even if he's got plenty of talent.

Emile-Smith-Rowe-Arsenal-Premier-League

Even so, the 22-year-old has a £40k-p/w contract that runs until 2026 so there is no real need to bin him off just yet and perhaps he's shown enough in the past to persist with.

As a club academy product, it's likely man fans will want him to get a second chance and maybe Arsenal will give him one more season to truly prove himself with extra reasonability next term – just as Cascarino suggests.