Kevin Campbell has slammed Arsenal for their business practice after they allowed the likes of Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to run down their current deals so close to the final year.
Both players are currently negotiating with the club over a new contract, but if they don’t reach an agreement before the middle of next season, they could lose both players to another team.
Campbell has revealed that it was a bad habit that the club has cultivated for a long time that has seen them lose the likes of Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and other stars to their rivals.
He wondered why the club would allow a player like Aubameyang, who has already won the Golden Boot in the Premier League to run down his contract.
He claimed that it is obvious that there is something wrong with the club, else they would have tied Aubameyang down to a new deal even before he came close to the final year of his contract.
Campbell told the Metro: ‘A player of Aubameyang’s calibre, the goalscorer that he is, golden boot winner last season and top goalscorer this season, and he’s coming up to having one year left and he’s not tied down?
‘This is a major issue in the football club, we cursed before letting the likes of [Robin] Van Persie go, [Samir] Nasri and [Emmanuel] Adebayor, who wanted to stay and we got rid of him.
‘Something isn’t right at the football club, there’s no way Aubameyang should be even remotely near a year of running his contract down. ‘This is bad for business, bad for Arsenal football club, and I just don’t know what’s going on inside, it’s sad.’
He added: ‘Especially for Arsenal, I think it’s vital and essential for the youth academy to start developing players for the first team. You look at over the years the amount of young players that have come through that have saved the club fortunes.
‘Saka, he came in virtually under the radar, and you look at the position he plays on the left side, [he has] done well in the league, done well in Europe, had to cover at left-back and done very well at that. He’s definitely one for the here and now, and the future.’
He continued: ‘I just think it was going to be a case of them negotiating at the end of the season, and then tying him down to a nice long-term contract.
‘I can’t see Arsenal letting him go, he’s young, he’s a gifted player and if you let these young gifted players out the building then you’ve got nothing really.
‘I think it will get done, it’s just a case of when. I would like to see them move and get it done now, why wait until the summer?’
I do not always agree with Campbell but on this occasion, he has made some very good points, it is almost criminal that the club has been unable to deal with big stars and their contracts on so many occasions.
I am afraid the situation is a bit more complex than that. I don’t think the club is intentionally waiting for the last minute to tie up players.
Players and agents refuse to discuss too early, because they lack visibility and it all comes back to the team performance: we started struggling with players contracts as soon as Arsenal stopped winning titles.
And the situation is even worse now, because we haven’t qualified for CL for several years in a row: contract discussions were tough for the main players before, now they start to be tough for young talents like Saka as well…
The only way to reverse the trend is to start winning again, or at least look like a real contender. It hurts to say this, but I am pretty sure Leicester has less difficulties keeping their players, because they look like able to win any game.
Arteta has a huge task in front of him, but his first months have been promising. Come on Mikel!