3 Players To Replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Arsenal…

► SUBSCRIBE to STATMAN DAVE: http://bit.ly/StatmanDaveYoutube

Should Arsenal sell Aubameyang? & three Potential Transfer Replacements for Arteta’s Arsenal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been by far Arsenal's best player over the past two seasons, but Arsenal wouldn’t want a repeat of the Aaron Ramsey contract situation and lose the Gabonese striker on a free in 2021.

Whilst I think Arsenal should offer Aubameyang a better deal than the one Mesut Ozil’s on, I'd struggle to see a player like Aubameyang sign a long term contract at a non-title challenging side. The possibility of losing Aubameyang to a Premier League rival is high and could see a repeat of the Robin van Persie transfer to Manchester United in summer 2013. So I think Arsenal should consider selling to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and other top European sides.

So with the best option being to cash in on Arsenal's top goal scorer, let’s have a look at what players could fit in Mike Arteta’s side.

The first option is to trust the youth and play Gabriel Martinelli on the left.
Martinelli is not only the best attacking youngster at the club, but he’s backed it up with goals and assists, being directly involved in a goal in the Premier League and Europa League every 135 minutes this season.

The first transfer we’re looking at wouldn’t be really like for like, but could help bring out the best of Arsenal's current attacking setup without Aubameyang. Arsenal could use the cash to replace Mesut Ozil with Nabil Fekir and solve two long term issues in one move. The arrival of Fekir could see Arsenal finally get the best out of Alexandre Lacazette, with the Frenchman not reaching his potential in North London. In the two seasons that Fekir and Lacazette both played over 2000 minutes, the pair were directly involved in 99 Ligue 1 goals. Fekir came so close to joining Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in 2018 but the move fell through after the reds wanted to negotiate a lower price after discovering a weakness in his knee during his medical. Lyon rejected this and he moved to Real Betis a year later.

We head to Serie A for our second option. Making a double swoop for Sassuolo pair, Jeremie Boga and Hamed Junior Traore, the latter who has been heavily linked to the gunners recently. Using Aubameyang’s funds to move for this pair would again solve a lot of Arsenal’s problems, directly replacing the Gabonese striker and getting a box to box midfielder for the future who’s showcased some excellent off the ball movement, something sorely missing from Arsenal’s midfield. Boga could operate well in Aubameyang’s role too. He’s exceptionally quick, and makes good runs in behind from wide positions. His role as an inverted winger could also force Nicolas Pepe to take up more central positions where he excelled for Lille.

However, a more direct replacement for Aubameyang would be Diogo Jota. Jota has scored 32 goals in English football but has excelled in Europe, scoring back to back hat tricks in the Europa league this season.
What’s really special about Jota is his instincts. He gets a lot of opportunities where the ball just falls to him or he drifts into space before recovering a second ball. Diogo Jota is not the finished article and still needs to improve, but if he can work on his composure in the box, he could become a top, top player. His xG per 90 is 0.52, a number comparable to Sadio Mane and better than Aubameyang’s.

Follow us on Social Media