Selling their best player might initially seem like a disaster scenario for Arsenal but whenever there is upheaval, there is also opportunity.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is certainly befitting of that description. Just two Premier League players have scored more goals than him this season and when factoring in assists, he’s been involved in almost exactly half (15 of 32) of the Gunners’ top flight goals.
And yet, Aubameyang was always a signing that didn’t make a great deal of sense considering Arsenal had signed Alexandre Lacazette – a striker perhaps not quite as talismanic but certainly reliable nonetheless – in the transfer window previous.
It’s created a conundrum that neither Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery, Freddie Ljungberg nor Mikel Arteta have really found a long-term solution to; how can Arsenal get the best out of both in the same starting XI?
Add Nicolas Pepe and Mesut Ozil into the mix, two attacking players who don’t offer much in terms of tracking back, and Arsenal are stuck in a tactical quandary – a back six that can’t support an overtly offensive front four and vice versa, a front four that can’t protect a porous back six.
It’s unsurprising then that Arsenal have the second-worst goals conceded record in the top ten and rank sixth throughout the whole division for shots conceded per game.
Of course, Arsenal’s defensive record isn’t Aubameyang’s priority but ultimately something has to give. While in an ideal world that something wouldn’t be last season’s joint Golden Boot winner, the fact remains that he’s probably Arsenal’s most valuable commodity on the transfer market and their easiest player to sell.
Ozil is too far beyond his best at 31, Lacazette hasn’t had the game-time to attract a host of suitors and Arsenal would almost definitely make a loss if they were to sell Nicolas Pepe just 12 months down the line.
Aubameyang’s contract situation – with his current deal due to expire the summer after this one – inevitably affects his value but Transfermark still rate him at £63m, which is unsurprising considering his goalscoring exploits for the Gunners.
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And thus, when put into that context, reports claiming Inter Milan will target Aubameyang this summer if they lose their own in-form striker Lautaro Martinez – the 22-year-old has eleven Serie A goals this season – should be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat.
It gives Arteta the chance to finally solve Arsenal’s biggest tactical contradiction, while in turn allowing him to truly make his mark on a squad inherited from Emery, barring the loan signings of Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari.
Perhaps selling Aubameyang wouldn’t be a dream scenario for Arsenal, but if approached with the right mindset it by no means represents a nightmare either.