Aubameyang transfer cannot be allowed to define Arsenal’s season
Robin Bairner
- 16 Apr 2022 20:01 BST
- 3 min read
Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta are destined to be haunted by the ghost of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang until the end of the season.
With the Gabon international cast to Barcelona, where he is thriving, each time the Gunners lose, the decision will come under the spotlight.
That is particularly the case after a result like Saturday’s, when Arsenal dominated against Southampton but suffered a 1-0 defeat that puts their top-four hopes once again on a knife edge.
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It was Arsenal’s fourth defeat in five Premier League matches and served to underline the thin nature of the squad in attack. With Alexandre Lacazette dropping out with Covid, in came Eddie Nketiah – the only other natural No.9 in the Gunners’ ranks.
Fraser Forster had a fine game in goal for Saints, yet the overriding feeling come full-time was that with a Champions League-class striker, this was not a match that Arsenal would have lost.
Aubameyang regrets?
Inevitably, with Arsenal having picked up three points from a possible 15, the Aubameyang subject is broached against.
It was only a month ago, though, that Arteta was being praised for his bravery in making the decision as Arsenal made a run of five successive victories and were closing in on ailing Chelsea in third.
Perceptions can change quickly, but what was a good decision then is not suddenly a bad one now in light of recent struggles. If a mistake was made, though, it was in not signing a replacement.
Indeed, simply because Aubameyang is thriving at a rejuvenated Barcelona, scoring 10 goals in a period in which the entire Arsenal side has netted only 12, is not evidence that the manager got it wrong.
It is difficult to shake the feeling, though, that the Gunners’ situation is of their own making and if they contrive to throw away a place in the Champions League next season, the damage will have been largely self inflicted.
Arteta, to his credit, has owned the decision to exile Aubameyang in Barcelona via an 18-month loan, but on afternoons like Saturday, when doubts inevitably creep in, it is more important than ever for Arsenal that the past remains in the past.
