Arsenal told €30m isn’t enough for Aubameyang replacement

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is still at Arsenal despite frantic efforts to secure his replacement before the January transfer window slams shut on Monday.

Searching far and wide – well, England, Italy and Spain – for a new centre-forward this month, as of yet all efforts have proven futile with the chances of landing their man dwindling with each passing day.

As Mikel Arteta leads his team out for warm weather training in Dubai, he’ll be hoping that his phone will ringing to the joyous tones of Edu on the other line. So far he hasn’t even got a missed call.

Away from Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, given this is a rebuild with an eye on the long-term future of the club, and that Arsenal will likely enter the summer with just Folarin Balogun to select from at No. 9, some other could be eyed.

Arsenal told €30m isn’t enough for Aubameyang replacement Cody Gakpo as Liverpool and Manchester City also eye PSV Eindhoven forward

One of whom is PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo, who is making a very strong case for being the best player in the Eredivisie this season. Foot Mercato have added to a report from Voetbal International that states ground level talks have taken place with Liverpool and Manchester City by throwing Arsenal’s hat into the proverbial ring.

The Gunners see the Dutchman as a successor to Aubameyang, who continues to be of interest to Al Hilal and Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, with Gakpo’s unmissable tally of ten goals and 11 assists in 28 matches numbers few could avoid if they tried.

Reports indicate that a fee of around €30m would be required to land his signature, but those have already been shot down by Dagbladet’s Eindhoven journalist Rik Elfrink, who says that amount it isn’t enough to ‘even have a cup of coffee’ with the Dutch club.

Perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of the rumours are that 22-year-old Gakpo isn’t actually a centre-forward. Operating almost solely out on the left wing for PSV, the plan can only be to convert him into a long-term striker if he is indeed to be a direct Aubameyang replacement.

With Arteta’s positional play style it would be cheaper mould a tall and pacey wide player into that role, but with Gakpo’s fee entering dangerous territory it might already be one the club close a lid on.

It’s not out of the question to seek a profile like his with a positional swap in mind. However, as superb as Gakpo has been, when the likes of Liverpool and City get involved the fee is only going to continue increasing.

Though, at a point where Arsenal may bid farewell to Reiss Nelson, Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah, Alexandre Lacazette and Aubameyang all in one summer, reinforcements will be needed all across the forward line.