Arsenal proposed Aubameyang & Dembele swap with Barcelona

Is the end nigh? It is beginning to look like that for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Arsenal after being stripped of the captain’s armband at the club over an accumulation of disciplinary breaches.

Mikel Arteta made the decision on Monday before a statement was released on Tuesday confirming the news, with the manager’s comments seeming to spell the end of the 32-year-old’s time in north London.

Accusing him of a lack of passion and commitment, for a player who can only reach his best when he’s smiling and happy it’s hard to see a road back. It was, however, the right decision for Arteta to make. There was no other option on the quest for transparency when everything makes it into the public eye. The ‘leadership group’ have taken over for the time being.

The whole saga has, of course, prompted exit talk for Aubameyang. With the January transfer window fast approaching and Arsenal in need of a striker already, the space on the wage bill they could free up by moving on their highest paid player will do wonders for their attempts to bring someone else in.

Arsenal proposed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang & Ousmane Dembele swap with Barcelona as former captain edges near transfer departure

But what about a swap?

As per Miguel Delaney of the Independent, Barcelona are keen on signing Aubameyang but will struggle to afford his wages, those which he’s said to be unwilling to budge on. As a result, intermediaries have floated the idea of doing a straight swap between the former captain and Ousmane Dembele.

Aubameyang is said to earn up to £50k-per-week more than the Frenchman, but they are still roughly in the same ballpark (a very exclusive and expensive one).

With Dembele’s deal running out in the summer, Barça want to recoup something for his services before then and with Sergio Aguero set to announce his terribly sad retirement from football just six months after signing for them it’s an opportunity for them.

As for who Arsenal would be getting, Dembele is one of the finest wide players on the planet. Sometimes. Bursting onto the scene at Rennes, he was snapped up by Borussia Dortmund in 2016 where he spent the solitary full season before Barcelona forked out €145m to bring him to Camp Nou.

Nicolas Pepe looks like another Arsenal player who could be out of the door and the chance to sign someone younger and more talented than him is one Arteta may no want to consider for too long.

But there are, however, a plethora of reasons why this won’t happen.

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