Confident Arsenal will find an agreement soon with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, proclaims Mikel Arteta
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted that he’s confident that the club will find an agreement with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang over a new contract soon. The striker has only one year left on his current deal with the North London side and has been linked with a move to Italy, Spain and Germany.
While Arsenal will play Europa League football next season, their doing so has nothing to do with the club finishing eighth in the Premier League and everything to do with Arsenal winning the FA Cup. That handed the Gunners automatic qualification into the group stages of the Europa League but given their dependence on striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, things could get complicated.
The Gabon international finished the 2019/20 season with 29 goals in 44 appearances as Arsenal’s top scorer but the bigger problem is that nobody even came close to matching that tally. Alexandre Lacazette endured his worst season in front of goal while debutant Gabriel Martinelli netted 10 goals. But, that combined with the fact that Aubameyang has only one year left on his current contract has many fans worried but Mikel Arteta revealed that a deal is close.
"I keep being positive, we have had some really good talks with him and his agent. I'm confident we will find an agreement soon. He should be very happy that he will be staying at the club for a long time,” Arteta said in his pre-match press conference.
The Gunners have also been looking at reinforcing their team before the start of next season and have been linked with moves for a catalogue of players. However, they are inching closer towards a move for Gabriel Magalhaes from LOSC Lille and Arteta confirmed that Arsenal are trying to finalise the deal. He also added that the 22-year-old defender is someone the club believes will improve the team and the right profile for the squad.
"We're trying to finalise the deal. Everything is ok only when both parties agree. We're pretty positive. He's a player we followed and were determined that he was the right profile for us to improve our squad. When we get it [over the line] we'll be very pleased,” he added.