ARSENAL will let skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave if he wants to go and they get the right offer for him this summer.
The Gabon striker, 32, failed to break the 20-goal mark for the first time in his three years with the club last season and his sale could raise useful funds for the out-of-sorts Gunners in the final days of the transfer window.
The Telegraph are reporting Aubameyang remains a key part of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s plans but is no longer considered “indispensable”.
The star bagged 15 goals last season compared to 29 and 31 in the two previous terms.
And with two years left on his deal the time could be right to cash in on a player who cost a then club-record £57million from Borussia Dortmund in 2018.
Barcelona and Manchester City are the bookies’ favourites to move for the £250,000-a-week striker if he becomes available but his wage demands could put other suitors off.
Arsenal have started the season with back-to-back 2-0 defeats to Brentford and Chelsea with Gunners youth team product Folarin Balogun and Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli, both 20, failing to find the net.
Aubameyang missed both games after a bout of coronavirus and the striker position is a pressing area for Arteta to address, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both in the final year of their contracts.
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Lacazette, 30, and Nketiah, 22, could also leave before the August 31 deadline, with the latter more likely to go due to his lower wage demands and age.
The North London club are expecting a busy week as they look to rejig a squad which has made such a lacklustre start to the campaign.
They have signed Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares for a combined cost of about £125m this summer, and an Aubameyang exit would help fund further rebuilding.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
