Arsenal legend Tony Adams has expressed his fear over seeing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave the club this summer as the wait continues on a new contract.
The 30-year-old has been fundamental since he arrived at the Emirates in 2018, as he has gone on to score 61 goals and provide 13 assists in 97 appearances for the Gunners.
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However, as he edges closer to the final 12 months of his current contract, it has started to raise question marks over his future in north London as there will be growing concern over his long-term future.
Adams, who enjoyed a glittering spell with Arsenal, has now conceded that he fears the club’s current prolific captain could move on and has questioned the transfer strategy and recruitment at the club in recent years.
“He could walk out the door,” Adams told Sky Sports. “I loved [former manager] Arsene Wenger’s principles, that no player was bigger than the club, and he moved players on if it made sense for the club financially.
“He was strong with that and he got Champions League football every year, but it did stand in the way of recruitment – so we have become a club that is selling the best players.
“If I was a coach I’d be saying ‘don’t sell Aubameyang at any price, we need to recruit, bring players through the academy and keep our best players’.”
Time will tell if that materialises or not, but with Arsenal seemingly starting to move in the right direction under Mikel Arteta, he will undoubtedly be stressing the need to keep the best players at the club and building around them to ensure that his tenure in charge is a successful one.
Arsenal remain well off the pace in terms of the Premier League title battle, and have been for many seasons now as their more immediate priority has been to qualify for the Champions League.
In turn, time will tell if they can hold onto Aubameyang and bring in reinforcements this summer, as it’s difficult to disagree with Adams and his idea of how Arsenal can ultimately start closing that gap in the coming years and become a contender again as it will be difficult if they have to keep replacing their top stars rather than adding to what they already have.