So it now seems certain that the rift between Arteta and Aubameyang is irreparable and our ex-captain is looking nailed on to move to Barcelona tomorrow. The Gabon hitman would appear to have played his last game in an Arsenal shirt.
But the big twist is that Real Sociedad are not interested in selling Alexander Isak in mid-season and any deal would have to be for the summer window. Arsenal seem to be happy with that idea and will make do without any replacement until Isak turns up in June.
The official story from Spain says that Isak was only in London (and Finsbury Park!) on a short holiday and had nothing to do with any transfer rumours (yeah right!) and in any case, won’t let the Swede leave for less than the 90m euro full release clause.
As I explained yesterday, the fact is that Arsenal really have no need to increase their outgoings in January with nothing to play for except the 17 League games to aim for 4th place, which is quite possible with the reduced squad that Arteta has at his command right now.
A lot of Gooners are pointing to the fact that we have not managed to score one goal in January, but fail to remember that we were scoring goals for fun in December, without Aubameyang, and our old idol has only hit the back of the net 4 times in the previous three months.
Also, in January, 3 of our 4 games were against Liverpool and Man City, which puts a different perspective on things, but did we really expect our squad to win any of those with our squad reduced by AFCON and injuries?
Let’s be honest here, we can do well enough with just one game a week, and without Aubameyang, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Mari and Calum Chambers (and Balogun), none of which featured even once in December which was our best month of the season so far.
Let’s stay calm and remember that Arteta knows best, shall we?
Admin Pat