Back in April, some quotes came out suggesting that Alain Mounguengui, the current president of Gabon’s FA, had urged Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave Arsenal.
The striker currently has one year left on his contract at the Emirates, and there has been a fair bit of speculation surrounding his future, with clubs such as Inter reportedly interested.
Arsenal’s less than pleasant position in the Premier League hasn’t helped, and with the possibility of no European football next season (if results don’t go their way), they will be even less attractive to current players and potential recruits.
However, in an interview with TuttoJuve, Patrice Neveu, the current Gabon national team manager, took some time out to clarify the situation surrounding the country’s superstar.
He said: “Allow me to make a small correction: my president and I have never advised Pierre-Emerick to leave Arsenal. There has been confusion in the reporting of our statements. As I said recently, Arsenal is one of the most important clubs in Europe and the world.
“Since Arsène Wenger’s farewell, positive results have yet to be achieved, but the team is able to obtain qualification in the Europa League if they win the FA Cup. We’re not the ones who should choose where Pierre-Emerick plays. What we want is for him to play in an ambitious team that can fight to win”.
While Mikel Arteta is doing his best to turn things around, it might take some time before Arsenal are fully competitive again, and it remains to be seen if Aubameyang will want to stick around and wait for that.
At the age of 31, the player might feel it’s time to look elsewhere, perhaps in hope of winning some more silverware before calling it a day on his career.
For Neveu, the ball is firmly in Arsenal’s court: “I think the decision will be up to Arsenal’s board to propose to Pierre-Emerick an ambitious plan for the future. Otherwise he and his father will draw different conclusions.”
