‘Have to sell him’: Arsenal hero fears summer exit for Gunners star

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Premier League underachievers Arsenal are desperate to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – but La Liga champions Barcelona are circling.

Arsenal will have little choice but to sell Barcelona target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer if they fail to tie the star striker down to a new contract, Gunners hero Kevin Campbell has told The Standard.

With Nicolas Pepe, Mesut Ozil and even reigning Player of the Year Alexandre Lacazette struggling for form under three different head coaches this season, the prospect of losing the former Borussia Dortmund talisman doesn’t bare thinking about.

Aubameyang has scored 16 times in 26 starts during a miserable campaign for Arsenal while contributing almost 50 per cent of their Premier League goals.

But with just 18 months remaining on his current deal at the London giants, the 30-year-old Gabon international is facing an uncertain future – especially with Barcelona director Eric Abidal admitting that Aubameyang is a summer target for the La Liga champions.

And Campbell, a former Arsenal striker, believes that all signs point to an imminent exit unless things change.

“My thoughts are Arsenal can’t afford to be in a difficult situation, sticky situation, having a player run his contract down anymore,” he said. “I think it’s got to be put on the table to Aubameyang and I’m sure, if they’re in their right mind, they’ve been negotiating.

“So it’s going to come to the summer, it’s going to come to a head in the summer. If Aubameyang isn’t going to sign, they’re going to have to sell him.

“They’re going to have to get something for him in order to replace him. I think that’s the key.”

The situation has plenty of parallels with the summer of 2012. Robin van Persie, like Aubameyang, was Arsenal’s go-to goalscorer those days but Arsene Wenger had little choice but to let his Dutch talisman join bitter rivals Manchester United in order to avoid losing him on a free transfer 12 months later.

Arsenal would surely be able to command a substantial fee for Aubameyang, ensuring they have the funds to target a striker capable of succeeding one of the world’s best at the Emirates.