After his side’s 4-0 thrashing of Norwich City, Mikel Arteta suggested that striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is willing to stay at Arsenal.
Aubameyang scored twice against the Canaries, his first goals since the season restarted, which once again brought up his contract status.
The Gabon international’s contract runs out next summer. He is far and away Arsenal’s top goalscorer this season with 22 goals, 12 ahead of Gabriel Martinelli, so losing him would be a massive loss for the club.
REPORT: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Willing to Stay at Arsenal
What Arteta Said
After Wednesday night’s game, Arteta said: “He is willing to stay with us. He is happy where he is.
“He can see what we are trying to do and hopefully he can evolve as well some parts of his game he might feel he can improve. We are pushing him every day”
About a new contract for the striker, Arteta said: “I leave that to the football club and the senior people that finalise the contracts.”
Aubameyang Comments on a New Deal
After reaching 50 Premier League goals quicker than Thierry Henry and Ian Wright on Wednesday, Aubameyang spoke to the BT Sport cameras about Bukayo Saka’s new deal as well as a new contract for himself.
He said: “I’m really happy Bukayo signed ‘the thing’ and now we’ll see. We’re going to talk to the club and see what will happen.
“For now I am really focused on the games and this end of season, so we’ll see.
“Since Mikel is in we are doing well. We’re working very well. We have good signs that we are improving.”
Selling Players to Build Up the Funds
Alan Nixon of The Sun has reported that to come up with the funds to get the player on a new contract, Arsenal are willing to sell Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Maitland-Niles had fallen out of favour before the season got postponed and has struggled with minutes since the league restarted.
The report goes onto say that Arteta may also sacrifice some more young players including Emile Smith-Rowe to build up the funds to offer Aubameyang a new contract.
Other Options if Aubameyang is Sold
However, If Aubameyang cannot agree to a new contract, it is likely that Arsenal will let him go this summer.
Arsenal would want to bring in a prolific goalscorer to cover the goals that they would miss if Aubameyang departed.
ESPN reported that Arsenal would be interested in Wolves striker Raul Jimenez. The Mexican has consistently scored goals during his tenure at Wolves. In his first season, he scored 13 goals in 38 games and in this campaign he has scored 15 goals in 32 games. These stats show he can score goals in the Premier League and would maybe be the ideal replacement for Aubameyang.
Also, Per Nixon’s report in The Sun, they are after Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard. He has scored 21 goals for the Scottish club this season before the season was curtailed, which helped Celtic to yet another SPL title.
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