Harry Diamond
Jeremie Aliadiere has slammed Arsenal’s management and insists the club must now sell captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer given his contract situation.
Aubameyang will enter the final year of his deal at the Emirates this summer and talks over an extension have so far failed to find an agreement, with the Gunners now facing the prospect of selling the 30-year-old or losing him for nothing in the summer of 2021.
The situation surrounding the Gabon international follows similar scenarios that saw the likes of Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey depart the club, and Aliadiere believes his former side have no option but to cash-in following their poor management of player contracts.
“They’ve got to sell him, 100 per cent,” Aliadiere told Goal.
“Arsenal can’t keep losing players on a free. To be honest, I still can’t believe we’ve again got a top player, our captain, going into the summer only having one year left on his contract.
“For me, it has to be sorted when he gets to two years. Last summer he should have signed a deal or been sold. Because when you get down to one year left, in a player’s mind there is a difference.
“If I was Aubameyang and I knew I only had one year left, I would sacrifice one year of my career to go on a free and get paid a ridiculous amount of money and have all the clubs in the world chasing me. Who wouldn’t?”
Aliadiere emphasised that questions must be asked of the Arsenal board following their ‘wrong management’ of the club’s top stars once more, believing the north London side could have demanded a fee of £100m for Aubameyang last summer.
“That’s why I just think it’s wrong management yet again. It should be sorted at two years. You should not let a player end up with a year left on his contract, especially a player like Aubameyang. It’s not right.
“I just think players are playing on it, they keep letting negotiations drag on and the next thing you know, he’s just got one year left.
“And now, how much are we going to sell him for with one year left? Arsenal are in the worst position you can imagine again because you’ve got a top quality player who assures you of 20-25 Premier League goals a season who is one year away from leaving on a free.
“Or, he gets sold to Barcelona or Real Madrid and for what? How much can you expect for him now? Nothing compared to what if you’d sold him last summer. They could have asked for £100 million ($121m).”
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See also – Every Premier League player whose contract expires this summer