Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang situation has no middle ground

Arsenal have to make a decision with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and the fact that nothing is happening this winter is… concerning.

Arsenal are entering a new era under Mikel Arteta, with the rest of the season essentially serving as the “preseason” of this new era. He’s proven himself capable of handling these players, he’s proven capable of completely upending the questionable mindset at this club and installing a new belief. It’s all been quite nice.

But there are also some questions that he will have to answer moving forward. And they aren’t easy questions either. Namely, he has to figure out what to do with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. And know that there are only two options here. That’s it.

Option 1—we sell him as soon as possible. The longer you keep him, the more his value decreases. If you think he is vital to the rest of the season, we can take the hit to his transfer value and wait until this summer.

Option 2—we give him a new contract. His runs up in the summer of 2021, which is so much closer than it sounds, and something needs to be done.

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Aubameyang will be 31 years old this summer. Giving him a contract extension is a dicey decision to make, since it would have to be at least a two-year extension, most likely, which would see him under club control until he’s 33. Perhaps that can help drive up transfer value, it wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened. But in all likelihood, a new contract would signify an intent to keep.

Which would also wreck the potential to sell him for that delectable £70m that he was rumored to be valued at by certain La Liga clubs.

The only question you really have to ask is how important he is to the future success of the club. I honestly don’t care about present success. I really don’t. We need to rest, and I don’t see how a 31 year old striker helps us in the long run. He’s going to be making more money, which is hard to stomach, and while he’s looking particularly inspired lately, there’s no guarantee that lasts forever. Especially if we need more time to settle into competitiveness.

All in all, there is no middle ground here. You either give him a new deal or you sell him. I don’t see why we should be dragging our feet on this.