Bacary Sagna thinks Arsenal need to pay whatever it takes to convince Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to extend his contract and stay at the club.

Speaking to Goal, Bacary Sagna argued Arsenal should prioritise tying down Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the future. The striker currently only has a contract lasting until 2021, and he’s a key player in Mikel Arteta’s side.

“He can’t go now because Arsenal are on the way to building something strong,” Sagna told Goal. “They can’t afford to lose him. If they have to pay him, then just pay him because if they want someone else of his quality they cost £150m.

“So don’t spend this £150m, just spend £50m and give it to him. It’s the same as van Persie and I think you have to learn from that situation.”

Whilst Sagna admits he had his doubts in the past, he now believes Aubameyang is the best in the division at what he does. As a result, he thinks the striker is earning whatever money he’s asking for.

“Auba deserves it,” the former Gunner continued. “I’m not saying that because of his name or because he has scored a few goals. He’s the best striker in the league.”

Aubameyang made it to 20 goals in all competitions before football shut down. He was the Premier League’s second-top scorer, just two goals behind Jamie Vardy despite Arsenal’s struggles as a team.

Undoubtedly, Arsenal would’ve found themselves in an even worse situation with a different striker up front. Twitter user Orbinho pointed out the striker scored 44% of Arsenal’s Premier League goals in 2019/20.

Aubameyang’s goals have almost always won his team points in the league as well, with only his opener against Chelsea not directly leading to some kind of result. It’s hard to argue with Sagna on this.