Arsenal have reportedly opened talks with both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette over signing new contracts with the club.
The Gunners have had an excellent summer transfer window with Unai Emery bringing in William Saliba, Kieran Tierney, David Luiz, Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel Martinelli.
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In turn they will feel confident that they’ve added the necessary reinforcements to make a strong bid to break back into the top four in the Premier League this season and compete for trophies.
Time will tell if that happens, but equally as important as signing new players to improve the squad is keeping fundamental players at the club for the long-term future.
According to The Mirror, they’ve opened discussions with both Aubameyang and Lacazette over signing contract extensions, but their hopes of getting deals done sooner rather than later may have taken a hit.
It’s added in the report that in the case of Lacazette in particular, he may well wait until the end of this season to see if Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League, as not only would it potentially result in a more lucrative deal for him, but if they fail to do so, he would perhaps look at a move elsewhere.
With that in mind, and perhaps with other players having a similar mindset as it will be three years without being in Europe’s premier competition, it seems imperative that Arsenal secure a top-four finish this season to not only match their own ambitions but also of their star players.
Lacazette has enjoyed a prolific spell in north London thus far, scoring 36 goals in 88 games while he has struck up an excellent partnership with Aubameyang.
In turn, Arsenal will be desperate to avoid losing either striker, and while it isn’t an immediate concern given their current contracts don’t expire for a while, this season could be pivotal in getting them to commit for longer, as per the report above.
