Tony Adams thinks Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could walk out the door this summer, though he wouldn’t sell the striker at any price.
We’re now just under two months away from club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reaching the final year of his contract with Arsenal. As a result, there are plenty of rumours about his future, covering pretty much every angle.
Some claim he’s negotiating an exit, whilst others report that he’s considering renewing. David Ornstein recently suggested he might do neither, staying with the club before leaving for free next summer. The media really have all options covered.
Former Gunner Tony Adams thinks it’s a good possibility Aubameyang could leave this summer. He argues that’s the way the club is going in recent years, even if it isn’t the way he’d do things.
“Quite possibly, he (Aubameyang) could walk out the door,” Adams said. “I loved Arsene Wenger’s principles, that no player was bigger than the club, and he moved players on if it made sense for the club financially.
“He was strong with that and he got Champions League football every year but it did stand in the way of recruitment – so we have become a club that is selling the best players.
“If I was a coach I’d be saying ‘don’t sell Aubameyang at any price, we need to recruit, bring players through the academy and keep our best players’.”
I don’t think anyone would argue that Adams scenario isn’t ideal. If you have the option to retain your best players, make top signings and bring promising players through, you do. In today’s footballing climate, it’s very difficult for Arsenal to do all three.
In order to make top signings within their means, the Gunners usually need to sell first. I hope that’s not the case with Aubameyang, but the situation is somewhat out of their control at the moment.