I did not want Arsenal to offer a new deal to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
This is not me being Captain Hindsight.
Back in December 2019, I blogged that Arsenal should not be afraid to lose their star man for free.
He ended up getting his deal, and it has been a disaster since.
Anyone that followed his Borussia Dortmund career would know it was beset with disciplinary issues. The flights to Milan and Paris for parties. The tardiness to training.
These issues increased as his motivation to remain at Dortmund dwindled.
In November 2017, 2 months before he joined Arsenal, Aubameyang was dropped by Dortmund for disciplinary reasons.
The striker had been without a goal for 5 games and was being heavily linked with a move away. It is clear he no longer wanted to be at Dortmund.
Role on 4 years and it is deja vu.
Without a goal in 6 games, Mike Arteta dropped him for the second time due to disciplinary issues.
Unconfirmed rumours is he failed to turn up for training on Friday due to getting a new tattoo.
Regardless of the reason, failing to turn up to training the day before a game, with the team struggling for a bit of form, is unacceptable.
Aubameyang had been dropped due for the Everton game due to form.
He had been horrendous. A hinderance rather than the £250k star striker.
We had the missed penalties. The missed shots that were easier to score. Poking in others goal bound shots when in an offside position.
He was also contributing very little outside of goals.
For the 5 games he started where he did not score, he contributed nothing. Failing to get an assist in that time.
In his last 7 games in has 1 goal and 3 yellow cards.
The on and off pitch discipline problems and poor form all points to a player who no longer wants to be here. Whose head has turned abs he is looking for a way out.
At the very least, he should be stripped of the captaincy. Who takes the arm band is a discussion for another blog.
But I actually think he should never play for Arsenal again.
With 18 months to go on his £250k a week contract and turning 33 in June, there will not be a long queue for Aubameyang’s services. And this is the problem for Arsenal.
If we can not find a buyer for a player we do not want and does not want to be here, we are in another Mesut Ozil scenario.
Unable to move on, unable to invest funds into the position due to the money his salary is taking up.
Maybe Newcastle United will come in. Make him their stellar signing for January. Money for salaries won’t be an issue for them.
Barcelona are also desperate for a striker.
They have been linked with Edison Cavani in recent days. I am not sure what their financial restrictions are and whether that will block a deal.
If they are allowed to sign him, I can see maybe an 18-month loan deal being suitable for both parties.
Barcelona get the striker without a fee, Arsenal get the wages off their books.
And then there is China.
Before joining Arsenal he looked on the verge of disappearing into oblivion in the Far East.
It perhaps shows the motivation of the man that at 28-years-old he was pushing for a love to China.
Do they still have money out there? Are they still splashing the cash? I do not know.
Over the next few days we will discuss further the impact of Aubameyang leaving. But even if Arsenal do not get a transfer fee for him we can easily get in a replacement with a re jig of finances.
All I know is I am done with Aubameyang.
He was a great signing who scored the goals to take us to the FA Cup in 2020. But like at Dortmund, his ending is coming fast and bitter.
Aubameyang should never play for Arsenal again.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Because Auba has done such great things for Arsenal and our memory is very short ” gratitude” we tend to focus on petty things that are not totally his fault,like his missed chances in front of goal,the lack of assists but really do you think one player should take the blame for what the entire team failed do do?
When Arteta turns our strikers into defenders you should expect them to be totally winded when they finally break into the opponent’s penalty area and totally disconcerted.
Our big problem is we are no longer a great club and do not attract big names anymore.We had Guendouzi which Arteta has done away with solely because he cannot handle a team of characters and figures because he Arteta is lacking in having a dialogue with anybody who is much stronger than him mentally.
Your pain is going to go away as soon as Auba is back to his better self.
We badly need two box to box midfielders and then our strikers can shine once more.
LikeLike
Aubamayang has never been winded after doing defensive duties!! He is the laziest player I have ever seen, bar the Tots game. If he isnt scoring, and he hasnt for 18 months, his team contribution is zero. doesnt track, doesnt hold it up, doesnt win headed duels, doesnt press. He is not the type of player we need. This is 3rd disciplinary issue. That is not being petty! He is club captain ffs. So he cant even set an example to others. The man is a disgrace
LikeLike
Auba is not the cause of Arsenal’s problem, the most deadliest striker will suffer in this kind of Arsenal set up, how many chances has your midfielders created? When we had creative midfielders bad strikers like Bendtner was scoring. Arteta is our problem, he has Ego problem
LikeLike
Hi ,
You are the one who is bitter and without rational understanding.
Jumping to conclusions without having a proper grasping on the facts.
Arteta is the one who needs firing not Auba.
Firstly Auba has been given permission to go to France to pick up his sick mother on Tuesday to return Wednesd night.
He returned Thrusday morning and still arrived on time to training. He did a COVID test in France before leaving bit apperently that did not somehow satisfy the criteria in England so whenue arrived could not train.
Arteta instead of privately handling this situatio used it as an excuse to throw Auba under the bus to disguise Tue fac that HE the kanffer is doing a piss poor job an we are stuck in 7-9 place in the ekague since he arrived.
We still create nothing from open play through the centre and have no pattern of play.
We still bought 5/6 defjwsive players in the summer when our biggest problem was scoring from open play, we still create basicaly nothing for our forwards, especially against organised teams who okay with a high press and have a good system, wg, Man City, Liverpool, Brighton, Crystal Palace , Brentford but we also lose to shite teams line Man U, Everton as well
Our defwnse is worse than last year, our midfield is worst than last year and all our striker stats are continuing to fall off a cliff from the last two years.
.the problem is NOat Auba or Laca it’s Arteta.
For a person who is supposd to be a seasoned Arsenal fan I find you to be borderline rascist and very unobjective and extremely shortsifhtex and lacking any guile in your analysis. Eady to blame the colourfull balck guy who has carried since he arrived, but not the failing white manager.
Shame on you
LikeLike
Borderline racist? And yet you’re the only person bringing race into it. Think we all know who the real racist is here. Oh, and am I allowed to describe a negro as colourful? Or would that make me a borderline racist?
LikeLike
If the writer is an Arsenal manager by now no player will be in the club, this is the assembly of people of different characters and cultures, when Wenger was the coach he had stubborn players every where and he was able to manage them well. Arteta lacks player management, since he came to Arsenal he had issues with Guendozi, Ozil and now Auba. This is a rare case we see in Arsenal
LikeLike