Arsenal: Karim Benzema a nightmare outcome from Aubameyang
By Josh Sippie
As Arsenal’s link to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sours, their link to Karim Benzema heats up. This is a nightmare from where it all began.
It all seemed so simple. Arsenal had landed Henrikh Mkhitaryan, a former team mate and friend of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the sporting director called out Aubameyang, he was sat, he disappeared from Dortmund existence and everyone waited.
All the Gunners had (and still have) to do was (is) pay the asking price, which is a perfectly reasonable asking price of £60m. In typical Arsenal fashion, the highest bid they have yet offered is £53, with rumors indicating that Dortmund could go as low £57m.
Still no deal. It’s like the Gunners are just waiting on Dortmund to crack, seeing as how they are just as desperate to get rid of Aubameyang we were to ditch Alexis Sanchez.
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I can’t fault them yet. Not until February 1st. If the Gunners are just trying to save a few million pounds, I don’t care, so long as, in the end, we get our man.
The problem is that an old rumor has sprung up in the waning moments of the transfer window, as links to Aubameyang are getting more skeptical. Normally, I wouldn’t give half a crap about it, because it’s the resurgence of an old rumor. The tabloids are working some serious necromancy here.
And of course, it is Karim Benzema. Benzema has been a non-factor for Real Madrid this year, which carries on his steady decline from last year. The low-effort goal hawk is now 30 years old and undoubtedly would like to play some games before he calls it quits.
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The link indicates that Arsenal have agreed on a £35m deal for the former world class striker.
Now, again, normally I would brush it off and laugh. But seeing the price for Benzema lower than the price for Aubameyang, I can’t help but hear this niggling voice in the back of my head, heckling me with questions like “wouldn’t they love to save a buck?”
Of course they would. But this is a nightmare transition from Aubameyang. The Gabonese striker is in the midst of his prime and he is ambitious as all hell. He wants to reassert himself in the world class striker spectrum and reconnecting with Mkhitaryan is just a delicious side dish.
Or you can get Benzema in the midst of his decline, after he laughed at the Gunners while in his prime and admitted that Real Madrid is the pinnacle of football. Meaning that ambition may be a bit lacking from the Frenchman.
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It’s probably nothing. The media has been trying to give us Benzema for years and it’s never worked out. It’s just the timing that really irks.