Arsenal: 3 reasons Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving for nothing can be good

1. You get his goals

The Mikel Arteta rebuild will not accelerate until Arsenal get into the top five and re-qualify for the Champions League. This the hurdle that they must clear before any true progress can be made. The financial model the club is built on depends on the added windfall from Champions League football. They will not be able attract star players without qualification for elite’s competition. Everything is on hold until they squeeze into the top five.

Arsenal’s hopes of recovering their position in the Premier League this season are hanging by a string. If and when the campaign resumes, they have very little margin for error if they are to steal Champions League football. After crashing out of the Europa League earlier in the year, realistically, their hopes of Champions League football are on hold for another season.

It goes without saying, but Aubameyang will provide Arsenal with a better chance of qualifying for the Champions League than without him. He is an elite-level goalscorer who is on course to challenge for the Premier League golden boot for the second year in a row. It is obvious, but that player helps.

If Aubameyang was to stay for one more year, fire Arsenal back into the Champions League, and then walk off into the sunset, his value would be far higher than any £30 million fee that he might fetch this summer. Keeping him for another year, then, is not entirely disastrous.