Matt Smith has become the latest Arsenal youth player to move on loan to Doncaster Rovers.
Arsenal have confirmed that Matt Smith will spend another year in League One, with the young Arsenal midfielder joining Doncaster Rovers.
Speaking to the official Doncaster Rovers website, Smith said, “I’m buzzing. I’m really looking forward to the season it’s my second season now in league one so I know what to expect.
“I worked with the manager at Swindon Town and Doncaster play the right way and a way that suits me as a player, so it was a no-brainer to come here especially in the development of my career.
“Hopefully, now I’ve come in here we’ll push on and do well this season.
“Richie [Wellens] is a top manager and I love working with him. For me personally, he wanted to help me every day to develop and push on. I really enjoyed my time working with him so the decision to come here was an easy one,” he added.
“I spoke to Ben Sheaf and Tyreece John-Jules too and they both spoke highly of their time here so that pushed me to come here too.
“I’m really looking forward to the season ahead.”
Smith had two loans to the same division last season, playing for Swindon Town until January and then Charlton Athletic for the rest of the season.
Although things started very well with Swindon Town on an individual basis, they struggled as a team and he started to fall out of favour a bit with the new manager. Arsenal recalled and reloaned him, but it was a similar story with Charlton.
After eight appearances from February to mid-March, Smith dropped out of the Charlton squad completely. He played u23 fixtures to get minutes and was clearly no longer in contention for first-team action.
Hence why the 20-year-old is now set for a return to the same division, instead of making a step up.
The good news is that Doncaster Rovers have treated Arsenal loanees well in the last few years. Ben Sheaf joined the club in 2019/20 and made 38 appearances, and Tyreece John-Jules played 21 times last season despite his injury problems.
If Smith gets the same opportunities, this could be a positive year for him.