Premier League Arsenal will be desperate to keep hold of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang amid links to La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may be tempted to stay at Arsenal after all, with Football London reporting that the striker is ‘increasingly happy’ with life at the Emirates under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners might still be ninth in the Premier League table and out of Europe too following that humiliating home defeat to Olympiakos, but there is no doubt that things are looking up under a rookie manager who returned to North London in December following a spell at Manchester City.
Arteta may be young but his no-nonsense approach appears to have had the required effect on a group of players renowned for their, well, nonsense.
The straight-talking Spaniard has instilled a sense of team ethic and some much-needed discipline with Arsenal becoming a more well-drilled, consistent group as a result.
Whether this is enough to keep Aubameyang out of the clutches of Real Madrid, Barcelona or even Manchester United remains to be seen.
But Football London reports that the Gabonese goal-machine is happier than ever under Arteta, not long after he looked destined for the exit during the final, testing weeks of Unai Emery’s reign.
The former Borussia Dortmund talisman has found the net seven times in 11 games since Arteta tok over but, with his contract due to expire in 2021, there has been plenty of hand-wringing about the potential departure of arguably Arsenal’s most influential player since Thierry Henry.
Regardless of how the man himself feels about things, Arsenal may be forced to cash in on Aubameyang this summer to avoid losing him on a free 12 months later.
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