Mikel Arteta will be desperate to keep Arsenal talisman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Premier League amid links with Barcelona and Liverpool.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s remarkable goalscoring record in the colours of Arsenal have forced Bacary Sagna to change his mind about a modern-day Gunners legend, in quotes reported by Goal.
If Arsenal are ninth in the Premier League table right now, god knows where they would be if they didn’t have a Gabonese goal-machine to bail them out time and time again.
With 20 goals in all competitions this season, and 17 in England’s top flight, Aubameyang has been a talismanic presence in North London almost as soon as he arrived on English shores two years ago in a £56 million deal from Borussia Dortmund.
So no wonder there has been so much hand-wringing about his future. The 30-year-old is out of contract in 2021 and Barcelona, who are actively pursuing a replacement for Luis Suarez, have already confirmed their interest.
Former Arsenal defender Sagna is desperate to see Aubameyang commit his future to his current employers with the Frenchman admitting that he’s been won over by a man who usually doesn’t need a second glance to find the back of the net.
“One year ago someone asked me if he was world class and I replied no. Some people were not happy about my answer, but to me he had the potential to be better and to be more clinical,” Sagna said.
“One year later, yes he is world class because every time he is in front of goal he scores. Even his movement is different. He is clinical, he is so dangerous.
“As a defender you don’t want to be facing this type of player.”
With Liverpool apparently planning to reunite Aubameyang with Jurgen Klopp, the man who handed him his big break at Dortmund, comparisons will inevitably be drawn with that Robin van Persie saga in the summer of 2012 (90Min).
Eight years ago, Arsenal were forced to sell their star striker to a direct Premier League rival, Manchester United, to avoid losing him on a free 12 months later.
Could history be about to repeat itself?
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