Why Arsenal are not selling Aubameyang in January
Robin Bairner
- 30 Jan 2022 13:54 GMT
- 3 min read
Arsenal are reportedly close to reaching an agreement with Barcelona to loan Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the Camp Nou side in January.
While it is doubtful that the deal will even take place due to the financial position of the Catalan club, it is worth noting that the Gunners are only set to loan out the Gabon international star.
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Given that he has had what appears to have damaged his standing with manager Mikel Arteta beyond repair, this would appear to be a curious stance from the Emirates club.
So why is it the route that they have chosen to go down?
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As with every football transfer, context is everything. In an ideal world, Arsenal would likely offload Aubameyang immediately. However, the situation counts against them at this moment.
There are few major clubs seeking to sign Aubameyang – and none apparently willing to pay big money for him.
Aubameyang still has 18 months to run on his contract, and Arsenal are thinking of ways to maximise their return on him.
The reasoning behind Arsenal’s stance, then, is that by offloading Aubameyang for the next six months, they will give the striker an opportunity to win back his reputation. If he goes to Barcelona and scores 10 goals in the remainder of the season, his transfer value will rise ahead of a summer window in which many more teams will be active.
Even if Aubameyang went to Barcelona and failed, it will not have hurt his value as much as the Gunners simply sidelining him until the summer as they are otherwise poised to do. Additionally, they will at least offload a portion of his large wages during his time in Spain.
In some ways, the stance that Arsenal have taken over Aubameyang is not dissimilar to the one that Barcelona have taken over Philippe Coutinho, who is at Aston Villa for the remainder of the season.
