Arsenal finally managed to offload Aubameyang, allowing him to join FC Barcelona as a free agent but according to Ian Wright, the Gunners boss might have made a blunder.
Aubameyang had been frozen out of the squad in the past few months and his last start for the club came in the first week of December against Manchester United. He’d scored only four goals in 14 Premier League games for the North London side.
Wright has claimed that someone as colourful as Aubameyang can be easily misunderstood and that Arsenal had failed to build a team around him.
“He’s taken a massive cut to go there (Barcelona) and he’s willing to do that,” he said in Wrighty’s House podcast, as quoted.
“With all the people saying he’s just signed a contract and just clocked off, he got offered the same money he’s on at Arsenal to go to Saudi Arabia.
“I’m quite disappointed that somewhere along the line something couldn’t have been resolved. I’m very sad on a personal level because I think he’s made for us.
“If you’ve got Auba then you gear everything into him and structure everything for him to do what he does.
⚡ For the match-winning moments
🙅♂️ For the iconic celebrations
😀 For making us smileThank you for everything, @Auba ❤️
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 1, 2022
“I remember not long ago I was watching his goals for Dortmund and it’s just all geared to him so I’m devastated that we couldn’t do that for him.”
Was letting Aubameyang leave a massive tactical blunder?
What Ian Wright is talking about(building a team around him) would have made Aubameyang the star figure in the squad but that’s completely opposite of what Arteta is trying to do.
The Gunners boss wants to build a team where everyone is equal and the manager has the final say in everything. But Auba was clearly going against this trend in recent months.
From poor performances on the pitch to arriving late in training, Aubameyang had managed to rub Mikel Arteta the wrong way which is why the manager chose to send him out promptly.
While we do not see any problem in Arsenal letting the forward join Barcelona but what they have massively failed to do is bring in an apt replacement.
With the 32-year-old leaving, Arsenal’s forward line has depleted massively and this could turn out to be a major issue. For the rest of the season, Arteta will be only one or two injuries away from an attacking crisis. Thankfully, the Gunners are playing only in the Premier League so they have lesser games to play but with so many teams fighting for a top-four spot, it will be really hard for them to secure a Champions League spot with attackers like Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah.
