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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
The Arsenal captain signed for the Gunners in January 2017, and has scored 49 goals in 75 league appearances since then. Unfortunately, the Gabon striker’s goals have not been enough to help the North London club to any trophy or even Champions League qualification during his tenure to date.
He now has just over 12 months left on his current contract at last year’s Europa League runners-up, and Mikel Arteta’s side have a huge decision to make in the summer to either sell or keep their talisman in the hope that he extends his deal.
However, if they opt to sell the striker, which clubs could be tempted to move in for the prolific frontman?
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On paper, Jurgen Klopp’s side signing Aubameyang makes sense owing to his goalscoring record and Roberto Firmino’s relative struggles in front of goal this season; however it’s not as straightforward as it seems.
While it wouldbe great to see the Gabon forward team up with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane – the trio each finished 2018-19 with 22 Premier League goals in a three-way Golden Boot tie – the Reds will have to change how they play to accommodate the Arsenal man.
The world champions’ creativity mostly comes via both full-backs, which lets Salah and Mane tuck in and create overloads in the box.
When attacking down the middle, Firmino drops deep to receive the ball and link-up play, while the aforementioned pair are narrow and looking to find pockets of space to wreak havoc.
Given Auba’s link-up play isn’t as good as the Brazilian’s, the European champions will have to tweak how they operate if they steal him from their London rivals this simmer.
Nevertheless, having Auba, Salah and Mane in attack will strike fear into any defence domestically and in Europe.
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Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to sell Romelu Lukaku last summer without getting a replacement seemed odd at the time, and the way their season’s panned out has justified the critics’ standpoint.
The Red Devils chased sensation Erling Haaland in January before settling for Odion Ighalo on loan, but they need more firepower up front next season.
While currently injured Marcus Rashford has come up trumps for the Manchester giants with 14 league goals, he plays better off an out-and-out striker, and teaming up with Auba could be devastating given how United play on the counter.
Anthony Martial’s too inconsistent to lead the line, while the talented Mason Greenwood is still too young to be burdened with the responsibility of being United’s number nine, so a move for the Arsenal skipper could be a sensible next step.
Ole’s side wouldhave to end the campaignin the top four, should it be resumed,to have a realistic chance of prising the top-class forward away from the Emirates.
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Real Madrid
The thought of Aubameyang at Real was somewhat inconceivable at the start of the season after Karim Benzema began in prolific fashion, netting 12 times in the first-half of the campaign.
However, the Frenchman’s decline since the turn of the year, coupled with Luka Jovic failing to adapt to life in Madrid, means Zinedine Zidane could look to Arsenal’s goal magnet to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018.
Whether the Whites are successful remains to be seen, but having flirted with the idea of joining the biggest club in the world before moving to North London, Aubameyang wouldprobably jump at the opportunity to play for Zidane’s troops if another chance arose.
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