Darren Bent has claimed that Mikel Arteta won’t regret letting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave Arsenal despite being ‘rejuvenated’ at Barcelona, as he told talkSPORT.
The Arsenal-supporting pundit added that it had gone ‘stale’ for Aubameyng in north London, and whilst he is thriving in La Liga now, he wasn’t showing that type of form in the Premier League.
The end of the road for Aubameyang came when he was stripped of the captain’s armband in December.
It was the end of the road for the 32-year-old and he has since scored four goals in four La Liga games since moving to the Nou Camp.
Despite that, ex-Premier League player Bent thinks the right call was made to move him on.
“No, they won’t (regret letting Auba go if they don’t make top 4) because he wasn’t showing that type of form at Arsenal,” said Bent. “I think it had gone stale there.
“Clearly he wasn’t happy at Arsenal. Arteta didn’t think he was going to feature in their plans.
“I have been there. Sometimes a change of scenery can do you wonders and that’s what it looks like it has done for Aubameyang.
“He’s gone to Barcelona. He looks rejuvenated, a point to prove and scoring goals. I expect that. A lot of players go to new clubs and hit the ground running. But he wouldn’t have had the same impact at Arsenal as he is having at Barcelona.”
At the end of the day, from Arteta’s perspective, he parked Aubamyenag out of the way because he wasn’t good enough for the environment he is trying to build at the club.
Arsenal have been on the decline for far too long and, for once, someone at the club is starting to show authority.
The club’s call to go down the younger route is working a treat and the future is looking brighter for all involved.
Added with that, compared with the Unai Emery era, the Gunners may have taken one step back to move two steps forwards, but they have improved in a dramatic fashion defensively, as a result.
Now it’s a case of adding a few more attacking jigsaws, including that striker and this team will just continue to progress.
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