Arsenal captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has less than 12 months on his current contract. But coach Mikel Arteta has said the striker won’t be playing his last game for the club in today’s FA Cup final against Chelsea.
Gunners will be hoping to win their 14th FA Cup while Chelsea will be battling for their 9th.
Aubameyang has presently linked with Inter Milan and Barcelona ahead of the summer transfer window. But with the statement of Arteta, Arsenal will be having the striker in its rank for another season and probably tie him down to a new deal. Till this is sorted, speculations will continue to rage about his future.
According to some sources, the future of the striker might be tied to the FA Cup. Should Arsenal fail to lift the trophy, which could be the Gabon international player’s first at Arsenal, Inter and Barcelona could pounce on a deal for the 31-year old. This means that such a situation will force Arsenal to sell their top scorer as they could miss out in Europe for the first time in 25 years.
Arteta beliefs Aubameyang will extend Arsenal deal
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the cup final, Arteta, who has always maintained his belief that the striker will extend his contract at the club insisted he is not thinking about the possibility of Saturday being Aubameyang’s final appearance in an Arsenal shirt. The Spaniard has also raised the possibility of the 31-year-old till the end of next summer and run out his contract if he doesn’t put pen to paper on a new deal.
“No, I don’t have those thoughts. Don’t forget he still has a contract here with us. We want to keep him and do it more long-term. But at the moment he is with us and I think he should be really proud of where he is as well.”
Being a two-time winner of the cup as Arsenal’s captain, Arteta knows exactly what it’s like to lift the FA Cup. It is now the turn of Aubameyang to follow his footstep today.
Arteta further expressed the belief that the experience of winning the cup as skipper could further convince the former Dortmund striker to extend his stay in north London.
“Absolutely. I think that has a strong link with everything that you want to experience as a player.
“Winning a trophy helps to really believe and make you feel ‘wow, I want more of those moments as well’.
“If you are wearing the armband and you are able to lift that cup, it is such a moment and this is going to help for sure,” said Arsenal’s head coach.
Arteta finally have an opportunity to win a trophy as Arsenal’s coach
Despite having what could be considered as an unsuccessful season, Arsenal story can change if they win the FA Cup as no one gave the club the chance to overcome defending champions, Manchester City in the last four.
After finishing ten points behind their fellow Londoners, Arsenal will go into today’s final as underdogs and winning the FA Cup is what guarantees them another Europa League season.
Their last Wembley meeting was in 2017, which Arsenal ended up winning. This time around, Arteta will be hoping to repeat the success, which also provides him with an opportunity to win a trophy in his first season in charge at the Emirates.
Being well aware of the honour that comes with lifting a piece silverware, Arteta said it would be great if the club wins it.
It could be recalled that despite qualifying for the Champions League ahead of the last season’s Europa League final, Chelsea stopped Arsenal from winning the title that would have qualified them automatically for the Champions League hammering the Gunners 4-1.
Winning this trophy would give the club something to cheer about after having had a difficult couple of years.
“It would be absolutely great. We’ve worked so hard since I joined here to try to bring this club back to winning titles, so if we can achieve that I will be delighted.
“But not for myself – for the players and the club. They’ve been through some very difficult moments in the last few seasons and as well for our fans because they really deserve some joy and nice moments,” Arteta added.
Aubameyang’s wages will be another reason for him to resign with Arsenal, he has told the club that he wanted to be paid a certain amount. If the club can meet the demand, he will remain at the club. And Arsenal will be able to contribute immensely to Aubameyang Net Worth.
