Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the 2020-21 season but the Gunners are trying really hard to make him sign a new deal at the club.
Clubs like Chelsea and Man United have been linked with the Gabon international but Mikel Arteta has surprisingly admitted that the forward could commit his long-term future to the club this summer, despite all the exit rumours.
“I don’t know, it is the way that I feel!” Arteta said, as per Arsenal.com. “The way that I communicate with him, the conversations that I have with him and the people around him. It is the energy I sense.
“It is just my opinion, things change in football very quickly but when you ask me in that moment how I feel about Auba’s future, in this moment I feel that he wants to continue with us and keep developing and help us to become a better team.
“He needs to feel he belongs somewhere that he believes we can achieve the goals that he has individually and collectively for a long time.
“He is very settled in the city, his family are really happy here as well I think, and he is loved, respected and admired by his team-mates, which is a huge thing to have at any football club.
“So that’s what gives me positivity, as well because I see the enjoyment he is having, the work-rate that he puts in all the time and the decisions that he makes every time. So that is where my feelings are coming from.”
If Aubameyang wants to leave, the 31-year-old will have no shortage of takers but Arsenal will not want to lose their biggest asset, especially when they will not have the upper hand in the bargain during the summer.
But if the Gunners wish to hold onto Aubameyang then they will have to secure European football next season. At this point in time, a Champions League berth looks almost impossible so Arteta’s men will have to give their best and get into the Europa League and then look to move forward from there.
