Former Arsenal defender David O’Leary has urged the club not to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave the club for free, claiming it would be ‘criminal’.
The former Republic of Ireland international has the record for most appearances for our club with an amazing 558 league outings for our club, and remains a strong admirer of our side.
As much as O’Leary would like to see Aubameyang stay at the club into next season, he claims it would be awful for the club to lose such an asset for free, claiming the club should have learned from previous situations, with Alexis Sanchez’s recent departure likely in his thought.
O’Leary told TalkSport: “I think the club has learned in the past that letting people’s contracts run down and walking out on free transfers, top players have done that, it’s not financially right for the club.
“Personally, I hope he signs again because his goal-scoring record is unbelievable, but the club has got to find out does he want to stay, and if he doesn’t then I think they have got to cash in on him.
“You cannot afford to let contracts run down now, particularly a player like that. If he runs his contract down and just walks out on a free, that would be criminal in many ways.
“But we all have to have our own structures on the financial side of things. I don’t know what he’s looking for. Arsenal pay fantastically well, whether that is good enough for him…
“If it’s not going to be, I hate to say it, I think they have got to go and get the best price for him and use that money to bring in someone young and hungry and hopefully do great for Arsenal Football Club. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
As much as it is easy to say that Aubameyang should be sold this summer if a new deal isn’t sorted out, a bigger problem may be trying to find a new club for the striker.
The Gabon international will turn 31 inside the next fortnight, and with clubs not expected to be splashing the cash as much as in previous windows due to the financial implications of the Coronavirus pandemic, there is serious doubts about the kind of fee that we could receive for Aubz.
I struggle to believe that Arsenal would be able to bring in £30 Million for our star man’s signature, while I believe a return to Champions League football would prove to be more profitable to our club in the long run, a feat that wouldn’t be impossible with Arteta and Aubameyang next season.
How much would you accept for Aubz signature this summer? Would we be extremely likely to push for a top four spot next year with Aubameyang at the club?
Patrick
If arsenal a strong defensive midfielder like Thomas Partey, arsenal will compete for the title and ultimately qualify for champions league. Arsenal’s problem has been not being able to actually replace Patrick Viera with the like player. If Auba stays and we sign Partey, we have the players that will compete for title.
One player (Thomas Partey) will not turn things round. You have a good point about Viera although, this has been the problem with most of the squad for many years. They have been smaller and less physical. We have missed a “dominant” midfield for at least a decade and we have not found a decent back four either. The club have not been led well at top level and that has had a massive impact on every manager that tried to get a good balance. If Auba goes for this year it will be for a fraction of his price. If he goes next year it will be for free. The message this sends out to every club in the world is that the club are “amateur”. Why would the likes of Thomas Partey even consider us? Let alone anyone else who is available.