Arsenal have supposedly made it clear that they will not pay a single penny of his contract if Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wants to leave to join Barcelona.
The Gabon international travelled to the north of Spain today, which fuelled the rumours that he was set for a move to the Camp Nou, but latest reports seems to claim that is on the back-burner at present.
Auba’s current wage appears to be the big issue, and whatever has happened behind the scenes seems to have left some sourness between the parties, and we are now claimed to be willing to reject his move to Barcelona if that means that we must still pay him to play elsewhere.
The term ‘don’t cut off your nose to spite your face’ could ring true here in more than one sense. If Auba is in the wrong, then why should he be rewarded with the move he wants, while we continue to pay him handsomely. On the other hand, when we have the opportunity offload part of his monster wages, and move a problematic player on at the same time.
Without a signing in his place, we could also be considered to be hurting ourselves by allowing him to leave when we haven’t found a replacement also, which could also be considered as spiting ourselves.
Do you think Auba could work his way back into the team? Should we consider paying part of his wage to recoup some cash?
Patrick