We all know that Arsene Wenger was famous for only offering one-year contracts to players once they reached the ripe old age of 30, but that philosophy seems to have been thrown out of the window since Le Prof left the club.
Just this summer, Arsenal gave long term contracts to the 32 year-old Willian, and the 31 year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, although that seemed justified due to his goalscoring record.
But now Auba is out of form, it is Alexandre Lacazette that has stepped up with 5 goals in his last 4 games, but Mikel Arteta has now told Sky that there will be no discussions on a possible extension until the summer, who will be 30 and will still have 12 months left on his current deal. The boss said: “No, we haven’t talked about anything related to his contract.
“We will talk in the summer and make a decision on what is going to happen.
“I’m delighted with the way he’s performing, the goals he’s scoring and the form and energy he’s got at the moment, so he needs to keep doing that.”
It will be interesting to see if Willian doesn’t improve and show that he was worth the investment, and if Aubameyang doesn’t regain his goalscoring boots, we may find that the Arsenal Board may realise that Wenger’s philosophy may have had a lot of sense in it, and stop giving big contracts to aging players.
Or do you think Lacazette could keep performing for another three years?
Either him or Auba needs to go, unfortunately.
We shouldn’t always sell players who are complete deadwood, we can also sell players who are in form (like Laca or Elneny).
Although Auba has been a clinical finisher, my concern is that his main strength besides his finishing was his pace and the stamina to maintain that pace throughout the 90 minutes and that seems to have dwindled now. I doubt if he’ll be able to reach his previous heights though I’ll leave room for him to prove me wrong. So in my opinion it would be better to fetch good money for him rather than Laca
Agree McLovin. At some point, we may have to take a leap of faith and sell our most valuable players to reinvest in new players who potentially can make us better, like what Liverpool did with Sterling and Coutinho
the time to do that with auba was two seasons ago. He just signed a new contract and is now on 300k+ and is 30+. He has little resale value now.
I’ve expressed my admiration for this guy many times but he should be sold at the end of the season. I just don’t trust that he can score goals consistently enough for a CF anymore.
The challenge will be replacing him with someone with the same skill and tenacity but with a bit more reliability in front of goal, within our (assuredly) meager budget.
Davi, who do you think can replace Laca?
Cos there’s not enough good strikers around who can give us 20 goals a season.
He will be 30 when his contacts ends Phenom ,with Auba signing a new contract I can’t see the club giving him another 3 years and being in the same situation as Auba and not being able to get a fee for him when his contract his up .
For me Martinelli is the ideal choice to take over that spot so no need to spend anything.
I’m afraid I’m not knowledgeable enough to say with any certainty. Edouard (the Celtic forward) looks a good fit to me (bit of a cross between Auba and Laca?) but I haven’t watched him play live, so couldn’t say.
We’ve got Martinelli, and perhaps Balogun could do a good job of we gave him a chance and convinced him to stay? Could do with someone slightly older though
Phenon, we really need to sell him by summer, do you want him to be another ozil, auba or William? There is a lot of striker with his capacity such as Zapata of Atalanta, Dhaka of Salzburg, Edouard of Celtic…. In which they are younger, agile and prolific in front of goal, we also have our own balogun which can can do the job of lacazette if given the chance….. But in all of them I will prefer Zapata, the guy is modern day drogba…..
Agreed and a fair assessment.👍👍
He hasn’t done enough for me come 4 years in June he can play well on a good day but them days are few and far between.
He came to us with a reputation as a goal scorer but in all his seasons here I don’t think he ever reached 20 goals in any season
Unfortunately he got wengerized like Xhaka. That’s what happened.
Sell auba he will fetch more money and lacca is a better team player,
If we sell Pepe, willian, auba in the summer along with
The normal candidates to leave and buy a GK, Rb, LB
CM, Cam, RW, CF…
Do you think anyone will buy Willian?
With the kind of service Saka and Tierney are now supplying he could reap the benefit.
In my usual deeply considered opinion , it is not age alone that makes an older player worth keeping or not, as the case may be but other factors.
Reliable fitness, sheer quality, work appetite and will to win(all in no special order, as all are key factors).
Willian appeared to have all those qualities at Chelsea but seems to have decided to go on holiday since signing for us. Auba has never been a reliably hardworker, though very effective at scoring, til this season.
Never a simple decision to extend an older players contract then but it seems that Willian has been a dismal failure and has no prior credit with us in his previous Arsenal “bank account” -unlike Auba – as he was a rival til recently.
Pepe is far younger but lazy and overawed much of the time. He has some talent but is not effective except very occasionally.
I judge ALL players, no matter who, by these main criteria; are they or are they not reliably effective, hardworking and top quality. ALL are vital if they are to have a stellar career and if they lack courage and character I would get rid of them so fast that their feet would not touch the ground.
To my sober, considered, mind, IF you REALLY want to build a top team THAT IS PARAMOUNT.
What are your thoughts on Laca, though? I’m interested to know where he falls within those criteria
Captain Mainwaring- was it your “ usual deeply considered opinion “ when you wrote, to your eternal embarrassment, “Never have I been more certain than I am now that Unai Emery is the correct manager of Arsenal”. Remember that PAL? It was immediately following an embarrassment at Anfield and you found yourself in a majority of ONE with what must surely be the single most ridiculous comment ever on not just JA but in ANY football blog.
You say it’s “not age alone” but I believe you would be far better sat in an armchair in front of a nice warm fire with a rug over your legs with a mug of hot Horlics.
That’s your trouble Captain Mainwaring, you spout off so much that your ever decreasing brain cells forget what you have previously inflicted on yourself.
Put your feet up old son, you obviously need a good rest
Horlics
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
i reminded him once of his blind support to emery and changing the narrative right after the sacking but he didn’t accept it and either lied or had forgotten about it
I would offer Laca a one year extension based on his existing wages.No negotiations required. If this is not acceptable, put him on the transfer list. I like Laca as a player who could help develope our talented youngsters, but there comes a time when a more realistic approach ,and a firmer line has to be taken with players agents who seem to regard Arsenal as a sort touch.More accountability is required from the top down.Considering the huge losses we are likely to disclose, last year and this, we need to take steps to ensure against the mistakes of the past in terms of finance and recruitment.
Good comments,i agree with you……
Sell Auba….will bring in more money and his head has gone. He appears to have forgotten his job in scoring goals.
Selling a player on £350,000 a week may not be easy
Exactly! Unless he’s (Auba) willing to take a massive pay cut.
If you have seen Auba’s personal lifestyle on the internet then you will know “pay-cut” is not in his vocabulary.
People saying sell Auba are being ridiculous and reactionary. If he gets back into form this month it would sound crazy to say to sell. Lacazette has been nothing more than “fine” since he’s gotten here. I see no reason we still need him after this season. He works hard but is usually only in good form for maybe 1/3rd of a season at best. That’s not good enough. Cash in, find a new striker. Also, Auba going nowhere with the contract we just gave him. We need to back him instead of just saying to sell because for the first time since he’s been here he is struggling.