Former Gunner legend points out the nightmare scenario facing Arsenal

There was always going to be consequences losing the Europa League final to Chelsea and according to former Arsenal defender Martin Keown we may pay the price with the loss of two of our biggest stars.

Keown is of the opinion that Arsenal runs the risk of losing both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer.

Speaking on BT Sport last night Keown said: “You mention about keeping the players.

“Aubameyang and Lacazette, it won’t be easy to hold onto them.”

He is, of course, right, there is a chance we could lose either or both players, they are not getting any younger and are ambitious and you have to think they have had a look at their teammates and asked themselves are they likely to be winning major trophies anytime soon.

It is hard to see us winning the title or Champions League over the next few seasons and when you look at the ages of Aubameyang and Lacazette you cannot blame them for possibly thinking they will have more chance elsewhere.

That said, the club may be open to selling Aubameyang if he does not agree on a new deal in the summer and they can at least force Lacazette to stay for at least one season due to the fact that he has three years left on his contract.

Aubameyang and Lacazette have had a decent season for us but they went missing last night and that is unacceptable but even so, losing both would be a nightmare for us, at least up front we do have quality and is not an area that you would consider a priority.

But there is no denying that Keown is spot on in his assessment of the situation.

45 Comments

  1. Look tho i think tactics were wrong from the start that cost us the game we still had 11 out there that let themselfs down big time and not for the first time so good luck to anyone who is sold cause there must be better out there who can at least look like there trying.

    1. Sell the bloody lot. Bring in real soccer players from the Championship lg and use the young ones as the so called experience players are not experienced enough or good enough.
      You can’t make a silk purse from these Sow ears. CB

  2. We only need to hold onto one of them. Auba is 30, and won’t sign another new contract, let’s be very honest right now. If he doesn’t sign this summer, why hold onto him? If we are not trying to repeat mistakes, then sell our players when they still have value. It will be very controversial, but we are hardly going to get funds offloading Elneny.

    1. If we cannot get a new defence get a bloody carpenter and board the bloody goal up

  3. Makes total sense, These 2 players’s name are attached to club as Barça & Real, Auba goes, so Laca will, Ozil must go as few players WE Can make cash from.

    Get Lukebakio, gotze, frazier, Dembele from
    Lyon & Umtiti for Laca, Auba, Ozil, Mustafi sales. A left & right back, give chance to our young lads. WE need talent, workers, hungry young players who will make as well or better. Check that kid Lukebakio and you get picture right away; boy is insane! WE need a new wave & energy for this New circle, era

  4. They can go if they want to. Went missing in the most crucial games, missed too many sitters and they are not getting any younger

    If they are so lethal, why do we sit in the fifth position? Lousy midfield and defenders should not be the reason, because Salah and Mane do not have better midfielders but they scored a lot of goals from their individual efforts

    From their sales, we could get more consistent goalscorers. Better get a taller forward that can play as a false nine and two inverted wingers

  5. I Can add Sarabia from Sevilla Emry Can get hip go replace ramsey, 18 millions pounds. A ball player, box go box, 23 goals and 17 assists! Fighter

  6. Sell the lot not good enough to play for the Arsenal. As for the owner if he is not willing to spend he should sell up and let someone in that will. Watch Newcastle new owner’s on the way.

    1. We will start to spend more now that the previous regime are gone, because they wasted so much money! Losing £40 million in just 6 months on Alexis, then swapping your best player for a Utd flop, is just one example. You will not find another club at any level that were as bad as the previous regime were in regards to player sales, and contracts. So even with Kroenke still charge, things will improve, by how much, who knows?

      1. Exactly! We have a football guy guy in charge now Raul and I really have biggest hope this summer to do some decent transfer when he used to work for Barcelona things were just running smoothly

  7. I don’t really understand fans that slate the owner for not investing; I think majority of them are employees that depend on a salary and lack any real investment portfolio.

    Who are the fans that call for Arsenal players to be on a performance-base pay? Shouldn’t AFC be on same?

    The previous management didn’t handle funds properly; that group has been dissolve. But, the system has to learn how to correct itself. And that process will be on the funds it generates.

    The other day one comedian on this site came out to say Ozil’s shirts sales pays his salary, disgusting mentality for a team that wants to compete with the best in Europe; if UCL is a fashion parade, then let’s get gucci & prada to help us win it.

    Trust me, few days from now another comedian will compare Ozil with Iwobi just so they can boost their false pride; In the real world we compare a gear bike with anothe gear bike. That way we can make improvements.

    If anybody is so good, then compare with an equivalent from another team.

  8. I keep saying it but we are part of the problem, we continue to settle for mediocrity, what do you think would happen to sponsorship is few attended and bought merchandise, however that wont happen because people some can’t help it

  9. From my observation we had a little improvement this season by going one little step better than last season with almost the same players.

    We finished 6th last season and reached the semi final of the Europa League last season, this season we have finished 5th and reach the final of Europa League so if we follow in that direction we might finish 4th in the league and win the Europa League next season, I believe that would be a very good season for us if we could achieve that.

    Well this is just me being positive.

    We all need to unite and put a lot of pressure on Mr Stan Kroenke to make him uncomfortable just like Newcastle did and are now getting a new owner that will pump money into their club. This won’t be easy but will leave a mark.

    A clear out of at least 6 players should be done and replaced with at least 3 quality players with character then we are good to go for the next season.

    The difference between us and the teams ahead of us are just wingers, we are so much in need of good wingers.
    Sane, Sterling, Mane, Salah, Hazard, Pedro, Alli, Son. These players possess speed and technique.
    While we have Iwobi and Mkhitaryan, running our wing, very laughable.

  10. And ambition zeparates us. Liverpool and City fought tooth and nail for title.

    Klopp motivated players to turn Barca over, Emery couldn’t motivate our guys to fight. Players simply have to go; Kos, Monreal, Mhki, and Mustafi for starters. Tell them thanks for service, but no place for them.

    We still haven’t fixed a weak defense that’s limped along for several years. Now add a pitiful midfield to that, and we are in real serious trouble. Can’t control a game and struggle to create, add a pathetic defense behind them and things are dire.

    Kronke more of a banker than an owner, top scout left club, and manager devoid of style and can only tinker with lineup. What’s our style of play? What happened to pressing and “antagonists” Emery was on about?

    We look impudent with the ball, and a dog chasing a car without it. Lots to do in the Summer; Emery have the cajones to cut the players? Can Raul find proper players? Will Kronke ever invest to catch up and compete?

    1. Well thankfully Monreal, Jenkinson and Lichtsteiner are already out of contract. Now, Koscielny am not sure we can get anything out of his sale given how old he is. On the other hand trying to rid ourselves off of Mkhitaryan and Ozil will be like trying to plan a mission to Mars! I don’t imagine there is a club in this world that will pay Ozil 350K a week, so not only will we have to waive a transfer fee to get the deal done, we will have to pay part of his salary for a new club to take him in. Mkhitaryan as well 180K a week nobody will pay. Probably we could ship those two off to Colorado Rapids and let them finish their contracts there.

      1. Durand, I wish Arsenal had “looked impudent with the ball”; it was more likely that Arsenal were “impotent”.(LOL except it’s serious!)

  11. I would sell multiple 1st team players and go into next year as a rebuilding phase and give games to our youth products.

    Sell Ozil, Mustafi, Miki, Xhaka, Monreal, Kolscieny, Kolasinac, El-Neny, Jenkinson

    Leno
    Bellerin Holding Sokratis (New LB)
    AMN Torreira
    Nelson Iwobi Auba
    Laca

    Nketiah, Willock, Guendouzi, Chambers, Smith-Rowe, Saka

    We need to start giving game time to our young players and blooding them into the team.

    This is also not taking into account new signings.
    If we could be realistic and bring in players who would be comfortable with no champions league like
    – Trossard
    – Fraser
    – Barella
    – Manolas
    – Saliba
    – Palacios

    1. Why is Ozil being blamed for the Europa Cup defeat? He faded in the second half but that is not why we lost. We lost because the defence left strikers unmarked and because our strike force managed only two shots on target. . Add to that the referee’s refusal to give a penalty for the goalkeeper’s foul on Lacazette and for Azpilicueta’s shirt pull on Aubameyang , not to mention his failure to notice the foul on AMN in the lead up to Giroud’s goal.

      1. Ozil is not solely to blame, but someone on $350k a week needs to do more and carry the team. Compare him to Hazard

      2. Ozil simply has to go because the manager doesn’t rate him and the manager refuses to play a style and system that would get the best out of Ozil (if that is even possible).

        The manager (claims) to prefer a pressing style which relies heavily on our forwards to pressure the ball when we lose possession. That is not Ozil.

  12. To be fair ozil is only in the team to create chances and he failed miserably. But the simple fact is our best two players were iwobi and willock. That for me says it all, I am all for selling/releasing most of that starting x1 and a good chunk of the bench too. I would also consider doing a Rioch and bringing in Allegri. It clearly reminds me of the Bruce Rioch situation, who became the stop gap between the George graham years and Arsene Wenger era. May be Emery should be the same, we clearly wanted Allegri, but he wanted one more shot at the champions league with Juventus. I say don’t miss out with both Milan clubs and Roma looking for Managers along with Juventus, perhaps this could happen? Emery links up again with Gazidis at Milan and takes Mustafi with him, we get Ricardo rodriguez in return. Allegri joins us and Freddie becomes assistant. Ozil goes to Roma in a straight swap for Manolas.
    Defence sorted net spend = zero
    RB – Bellerin/Niles
    CB – Sokratis Manolas Holding Bielik
    Mavropanos
    LB – Rodriguez/Kolasinac

    If we can get any cash for Jenkinson koscielny and Monreal then try bring in a better right back and move AMN forward, hearing meunier could be available quite cheap.

    1. Why would Allegri join us. We are not in the champions league and we don’t spend money on transfers. We are not an attractive destination.

      Best we can get is Emery or an up and coming manager. I would love Nagelsman to come, proven at developing young talent unfortunate he’s just moved to RB Lezpig

        1. Allegri would laugh at the approach from Arsenal, given the quality of current squad and the supposed transfer budget to upgrade to be competitive.

  13. How about ManCity getting disqualified from CL because FairPlay rule and us getting in?Problems solved!

  14. at least spud didnt win the champ league

    Klopp took 5 season to win the champ league with liverfool

    so Emery should be given time….

    City is ban….so we qualify for champ league

  15. Don’t get your hopes up, if UEFA ban Man City from Europe, they must also void the fourth English champions league place because our bloody FA didn’t take action against them first! It’s like a child causing havoc in a public space, you blame their parents as well.

  16. Get Martin Keown on the payroll and sell Steve Bould .. ?
    Defence fixed ..

  17. Lol..and the Arabs at Newcastle haven’t started spending yet. Soon we will be a mid table team, it won’t be too hard adapting though, already we have experience behaving like one!

  18. Arsenal showed how pathetic they are as a club when they refused to add quality especially in wing and defensive areas during January transfer window….we were in a great position both in Epl and europa they to me that showed lack of ambition knowing fully well how tin and injury infected we were…. auba boosted us towards the end of last season when he came but too little too late but this time we are in a position that we needed all help we can get… most times I wonder what kind of people Makes decisions at arsenal are they really human’s with brains or is there something going on they don’t want to let us know…….

    At the end it comes down to the squad just look at what we are playing our final with soo tin and quality devoid squad that welbeck solo haven’t kicked a ball for us for months have to make the match day squad

    Blame the manager,formation all you want but never forget this same formation have worked for us in many games and it’s like what the players have become accustomed to
    Judging from recent games the square totally lack in many positions

    This same chelsea were trashed 6:0 by man. City and a week later they completely outplayed city in a cup final using same formation in both games it’s down to the players formation helps but players performance is most important …

  19. Emery is a decent coach but I will think twice if I’m Raul to give a chance to a coach who took 4 points from 18 at the backend of the season. That was a world-class bottle job. 4-1 in a final to a team that’s been shite all season was hugely embarrassing. Our players maybe not good enough as some fans say but what good is a coach who couldn’t motivate his team in a final we needed more than the opponent. Like he is a good coach but input and effect we can say he had on this team that will suggest our future will be better with him. I can still see everything that characterized Wenger’s last 2 seasons in his team with 70m what of defensive players.

  20. My biggest fear is that Emery has bought into the mediocrity he met in the team. Where was the press we saw from the start of the season? Or did he stop cos it was the cause of our numerous season ending injuries? Or is it the cause of the great fatigue I saw in the team during the end of the season?

    I agree with a lot of opinions on here. Give him one more season and see what happens by the end of next season. I believed strongly in he tactics and style of play inform the start seeing our mediocre players like Xhaka start to show glimpses of better numbers in the stats but to gather 4 points from a possible 18 is highly questionable.

    Let’s hope that we will develop a self sustaining model with the management team in charge now. And don’t tell me it’s all Kroenke’s fault cos Liverpool did it with common sense. How? They sold there best players for a couple of season and signed prospects who are turning the league alight now.

    Transfer wise for me we should consider selling one of Auba and Laca, Ozil, Mhiki, Elneny, Mustafi etc and don’t tell me no clubs will get them cos there are clubs in China that will pay Ozil 400k a week. If we sell Laca for 80k for instance and add the rest recouped from player sales we will be having 40mil (rumoured transfered kitty)+35mil (coupled from player sales)+ 80 mil (Laca sale) this will be 160mil or more.

    We can replace Laca with Pepe for about 60mil, get a CB like Kouli for like 50mil, get Ziyech 25mil. Get a left back for about 15mil The rest positions can be filled with youngsters. We can start fro there at least

      1. NONNY, how long do we keep dreaming. We need to take action and the time is now. We need a change an obvious on I mean…

        1. Arsenal can be a great club
          But arsenal is no great team

          Such changes will not happen at arsenal as u stated just get over it
          Or else u want to put yourself in a position of been disappointed at the
          End of the day.. just like before the final I told people not yo get there hope
          Too confident with this team of bottlers look how they mess the top 4 up without
          A fight of what do ever this team doesn’t want to play with any pressure what so ever when ever the heat is high they have the tendency to blow things up..prople start saying it’s the caoch that is supposed to motivate his team what nonsense as if we are talking about bunch of amateur footballers this are professional paid so well to play football and u need motivation in a cup final with Europe qualification which u messed up still at stake if that doesn’t motivate u I wonder which word that the coach will use to motivate you….

          This are bunch of bottlers and machineries who are here for the money and fun of living in London…… lower ur expectation to lower risks of been disappointed at the end….. I thought previous experiences would have thought us that…

          1. Bony, we agree to disagree. Can you tell me how four of five players signed last season that is me excluding Litch suddenly became a bottler. Add to them Lacazette and PEA. Maybe their a culture at our club that is turning these players to mediocre or arsenal have been cursed some jealous rivals after we achieved the invincible. Every players/prospects we bought somehow regress. How else can someone explain this recurrent and consistent failure when matter most.

              1. Gogo, your arm would be ripped off if you offered Lacazette in the transfer market for “80k”; I hope you mean £80 million?

  21. I will be devastated if they go.
    We can’t replace a whole starting lineup in one summer

    Auba and Laca are two of the best strikers in the Premier league. If we had a decent CAM or creative winger. They would have been more lethal

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