Arsenal: 3 questions regarding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang negotiations

1. Is an extension the right decision?

All this leads to asking one rather obvious and pertinent question: Is an extension actually the right decision? Of course, keeping a player of Aubameyang’s quality and influence would almost always be in any club’s best interests, but there is reason to question whether Arsenal would be helped or hindered by signing him to an extension.

This mostly comes down to age. Aubameyang will be 31 in the summer. Not only does that limit his long-term value as the leading goalscorer as he is unlikely to maintain this level of play for several years; it also means that he is not really going to be a part of Mikel Arteta’s rebuild.

Were Arsenal competing for the Premier League title next season, keeping Aubameyang would be a no-brainer. He is central to the team. But they aren’t. And even the most optimistic do not believe they will be close for several years, at which point Aubameyang will be 34-plus.

There is a sound argument to make that Arsenal would be better off not offering Aubameyang a new contract, and that is before we have even considered the potential pitfalls of price and length. It seems, then, that the club has got some serious thinking to do.