Kevin Phillips claims that Arsenal may have to buy Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of his current contract.
The Gunners have been playing without the striker for the last three Premier League matches following his fall-out with the manager, with Auba absent from the playing squad entirely, and it remains to be seen when he will be brought back into the side.
There are plenty of rumours to claim that there is interest in his signature at present, including rumours of a potential bid in the coming window, but former Premier League goalscorer Phillips believes it will be difficult to offload Auba.
“I’d get rid,” KP told the Football Insider. “This is not the first time something like this has happened.
“He has had a poor season. He is the captain and he should be leading by example and he hasn’t. It is really poor from his point of view.
“At his age, it will be tough to get rid of him. Nobody is going to pay what he is on at Arsenal. I can see it being another case where Arsenal need to bite the bullet and give him a pay off. They may have to take this one on the chin.
“Sometimes you have to set examples. Arteta has done that by stripping him of the captaincy.
“For me, that only leads to one thing and that’s Aubameyang leaving at the end of the season.”
I think there are very few fans who would be against the departure of Auba in the near future, but paying him off simply makes no sense. If Auba wants to leave, he can find himself a club who is willing to pay him, otherwise he can do the job he’s paid for.
I think the best idea at this moment in time would be to move him on in January, but only if we can source a suitable replacement to keep our season on track, as a strong end to the current campaign is needed.
If we can hold onto our spot in fourth until the end of the term, it will have a big impact on our transfer window, and I can’t tell you how much it will mean to play Champions League football again.
Could Arsenal really be forced to pay Aubameyang off? Has his stock dropped that low?
Patrick