Paul Merson has claimed that Arsenal transfer chief Edu has panicked and made a major mistake by offering Pierre Emerick Aubameyang such a hefty contract, as per his comments on Sky Sports.
Aubameyang’s deal at Arsenal appeared to be running down last summer, but the Gunners offered him a pay rise to convince him to stay.
Aubameyang now earns close to £350,000-a-week at the Emirates Stadium (The Times), which makes him the club’s highest earner by some distance.
The 31-year-old has failed to justify that sort of salary this season though.
Aubameyang has failed to score as prolifically as expected and often has looked on the periphery of games.
Arsenal are now limited with their options if they want to sell Aubameyang – as very few sides would surely be prepared to match his wages with them.
And Merson feels that his former side made an error by offering the rapid striker such lavish terms.
“Aubameyang is 31 now but when he came over, you thought he is absolutely lightning,” he said. “However, there is one thing you are assured of in life, though, the older you get the slower you get.
“To give him that kind of money at this stage of his career is just pure panic. It’s lazy from Arsenal. It’s a mistake they’ve made in the past too, so it’s really lazy stuff from the club.”
Aubameyang does have the quality to still prove his value to Arsenal this season, but he will surely have to step up his game in the coming weeks to even hold down his place.
Gabriel Martinelli is now putting serious pressure on his starting spot, and the Brazilian could be offered a chance to feature sooner rather than later.
It is widely expected that Aubameyang will start for Arsenal against Slavia Prague in the Europa League later this evening, though.
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