Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele has dared to utter Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s name out loud, which means the 20-year-old is signing for Arsenal… apparently.
Dembele has been linked with Arsenal ever since his former Dortmund teammate Aubameyang moved to north London.
The 20-year-old forced a move to Barcelona last summer, costing the La Liga giants €105m, plus €40m in add-ons, yet somehow the media are trying to fool us into thinking Arsenal will sign him a year later.
The Daily Star even claim that the Frenchman was dropping a hint that he would sign for Arsenal when he spoke about Aubameyang recently.
“Honestly, I had a beautiful relationship with Auba,” said Dembele.
“Too bad it only lasted a year.
“For me, a guy coming from Evreux, meeting Aubameyang meant a lot.
“I was pretty good with him. It’s easy to play with a guy like that, he goes fast, he is always well placed.”
The former Dortmund man is just showing appreciation for his teammate, not saying that he wants to leave one of the best clubs in the world after only a year to play with him.
Here’s why Dembele – at least this Dembele – will not sign for Arsenal in the summer.
1All the forwards
Dembele is a forward. He mainly plays on the left wing but can also play on the right, and has done since his move to Barcelona and return from injury. He can also play in the centre.
Arsenal already have enough forwards. They have Mesut Ozil, who’s on around £300k-per-week in wages, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Alexandre Lacazette if Arsene Wenger decides to play the Frenchman with Aubameyang.
While Wenger could probably argue that you can never have too many forwards, especially with Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck failing to really perform this season, it’s difficult to predict where Dembele would fit into Arsenal’s starting line-up.
Either way, a big player on big wages is going to end up sitting on the bench when there’s absolutely no reason for Arsenal to be overstocked in that area. They need defenders, a new goalkeeper and at least one more defensive midfielder.
Dembele talks about his connection with Aubameyang but Miki has that too, as they also used to play at Dortmund together, and they’ve clearly rediscovered that. There’s no need to force it and spend a massive amount of cash on a relatively unproven 20-year-old just because he played with Aub at Dortmund.
“We understand each other on and off the pitch, that’s why it’s easier on the pitch,” Aubameyang said about Miki last month. “[The fans] have to be happy [to see us together], we will do our best of course, like we did in the past.
“We know each other on and off the pitch.”