Arsenal star striker ready to quit if the Gunners fail to get Champions League football next season
Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be willing to leave the Gunners if they fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
The Gabonese international has been one of the very few shining lights in Arsenal’s season having scored 8 goals in 12 Premier League games.
Unai Emery’s side currently sit in 6th place but are already 8 points adrift of the crucial 4th place that will allow them to gain automatic qualification into Europe’s biggest competition.
Aubameyang was the joint Premier League top scorer alongside Liverpool duo Mo Salah and Sadio Mane and is the fastest Arsenal player to reach 50 goals for the club.
However, since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund for £57m in January 2018, the 30-year-old has yet to don the Arsenal kit in the Champions League.
The Gunners are, of course, desperate to keep their star striker and have given him the captain’s armband following Granit Xhaka’s outburst in their 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
With Aubameyang’s contract running out in the summer of 2021, Arsenal would have to get a deal done before the end of January next year otherwise they would have to try and cut their losses on him.
A top-four finish is looking quite unlikely already given the turmoil that Arsenal are currently experiencing, therefore winning the Europa League is Arsenal’s best chance of securing Champions League football.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery is an expert at winning the trophy given the fact he won the trophy in three consecutive seasons with Sevilla.
The Spaniard led the Gunners to the final last season but were trounced 4-1 by London rivals Chelsea, leaving the fans and the club to rue missing 4th place in the Premier League by a single point to arch-nemesis Tottenham Hotspur.
So far, Aubameyang has been unwilling to commit his future to the club as has his teammate and striking partner Alexandre Lacazette causing rumours to circulate around a possible departure in this upcoming January transfer window.
It would be highly unlikely to happen but a move to Manchester United is currently at 10/1 and a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are at 12/1 and 14/1 respectively.
Despite the Gunners wanting to keep the Gabon national team captain, have been reports claiming that the Arsenal hierarchy are unsure whether he is fit to be a captain for the club due to his associations with the controversial YouTube channel AFTV (also known as ArsenalFanTV).
Aubameyang commented on the issue on social media by stating that he is free to talk to anyone at any time, thus perhaps adding another issue to Unai Emery’s pile.
