Mikel Arteta calls on Arsenal to show Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang why he should sign new contract

1/10

Mikel Arteta has said the onus is on Arsenal to show Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang why he should stay at the club.

The forward is entering the final year of his current contract at Emirates Stadium and is yet to agree fresh terms.

Aubameyang, who will turn 31 on Thursday, is currently weighing up his options and attracting interest from Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

The Gabon international revealed last week he wants to win trophies in the coming seasons and now Arteta has responded by saying Arsenal must show Aubameyang why he should stay.

“I think it’s our responsibility to make him feel that this is the right next step in his career,” said Arteta.

“In order to do that he needs to feel valued, I think he needs to feel that he belongs to us and we want him.

“And then he really needs to believe we can take this club forward in the way we want to do and he’s going to be a key player to do that

“I think at the moment I am extremely happy about the way he is performing and behaving. I think I have a really good relationship with him where we can discuss face to face a lot of things.

“So far, as far as I’m aware, I think he’s very happy at the club.”

Aubameyang revealed in his interview last week with French TV station Telefoot that he had not been made a formal contract offer by Arsenal.

Talks have taken place over fresh terms, but Arteta explained the outbreak of coronavirus has impacted negotiations.

“I think in a different context we would have liked to do things much quicker, but we have been handed really tight with time and communication as well,” he added.

“Obviously these unprecedented times bring a lot of uncertainty. It’s getting clearer and clearer every day that we are a step closer to getting back to playing football and we are going to move forward.

“We have many discussions with Pierre, his family and agent. I am pretty positive that we can find the right agreement for all parties.”

Arsenal return to Premier League action on Wednesday when they travel to Arteta’s old club, Manchester City.

The Gunners currently sit ninth in the table, eight points off Chelsea in fourth, but with a game in hand.

And asked if qualifying for the Champions League could help keep Aubameyang, Arteta replied: “I think that would help to persuade anybody, but we are very lucky to have the club that we have right behind us that a lot of players want to come and join us.

“But it is not about who do we want to attract as well, it is how happy the players that are here and how convinced they are that they are in the right place.

“As well, it is our obligation to be fighting for almost every trophy and playing in the Champions League with this club.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT