Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth has revealed an interesting snippet of information about Arsenal’s transfer policy regarding one of their key players.
Having missed the Gunners’ first game of the season, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been subject to a number of rumours about his future. However, it has since been confirmed that he missed the game through illness.
While speaking on the Sky Sports Transfer Talk podcast, Sheth has revealed that the club are not willing to sell the striker this summer, and there was one key factor behind their stance.
Sheth explained: “I spoke to a contact about this and I asked them exactly that question: are Arsenal willing to sell, and willing to listen to offers for, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang?
“The answer was, ‘we are not willing to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, he is a key player’. And then the key phrase was, ‘and anyway, who could afford him in this current climate?’.”
TIF Thoughts on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Arsenal…
It seems quite telling that one of the explanations as to why Arsenal won’t sell their captain is simply because very few teams could afford him.
Aubameyang’s form was not been particularly strong last season, as he managed a fairly dismal 10 league goals last season.
This lack of form – and Sheth’s quotes – suggests that Arsenal may well have been willing to sell the forward this summer had the right offer come in.
As things stand, there is only a short amount of time before the transfer window shuts and so it feels as if the former Borussia Dortmund man will remain at the club at least until January 2022.
Aubameyang will now face a race against time if he is to be fit and ready to feature for the north London side as they host Chelsea this week in the Premier League.