Arsenal new boy Willian has revealed that it’s ‘very important’ to him for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to remain in North London.
The red-hot Gabon international has a less than a year left on his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
And despite indications that he’ll extend his contract with Arsenal, Aubameyang, who scored 29 goals in all competitions last season, flew off to Italy for a holiday this week without having put pen to paper.
The longer this goes, the less likely it is for the Gunners to tie him down, but Willian, who joined the club on a Bosman last week, has told The Sun that it’s imperative Arsenal keep hold of him.
The Brazilian winger, who’s earning £220,000 per week, said: “I joined Arsenal because we can challenge for titles but Pierre will be a big part of the plan. He has to stay — it is very important to me.
“This is a guy who gets 25-30 goals a season and we have to keep a player like that. He’s one of the best players in our team and somebody I want to be making chances for.”
The good news here is that Willian may already know what Aubameyang’s going to do.
If it’s that important to him that the former Borussia Dortmund hitman stays, would he have joined Arsenal in the first place without assurances on that front?
He probably hasn’t spoken to the player directly but, by the same token, he probably wouldn’t have signed for the North Londoners if he was told by the club’s hierarchy that there’s a slim chance of the striker staying.
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