Former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick is edging closer to his Arsenal exit after he joined the transfer criteria for an Italian giant.
The Gabonese striker has been frozen out of Arsenal since Mikel Arteta confirmed he had breached the club’s internal code of conduct, with various unconfirmed reports indicating it was the last straw for him as Arsenal captain.
As a result of this breach of discipline, Aubameyang has not been seen in the Arsenal squad since The Gunners 2-1 loss to Everton, with the team picking up three convincing wins on the trot in his absence. Scoring nine and conceding just once, a Raphinha penalty for struggling Leeds United.
According to a report from Italian outlet Tuttosport, Juventus now have him firmly in their sights as a transfer target.
The Old Lady are after a striker and a top class midfielder, but with regards to striker they are said to be looking at players who are disgruntled at their current clubs, leading the report to also indiacte an interest in Paris-Saint Germain’s Mauro Icardi and Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani.
Juventus are said to want to prefer a loan move until the end of the season in order to allow them to re-evaluate their options at the end of the season. Whether this is viable for Arsenal remains to be seen, but regardless Arteta needs to find a forward appropriate to solve the teams profligacy in front of goal.
Alexandre Lacazette looks set to leave in the summer with his contract running out, and if Aubameyang was to leave soon as well it would leave Arsenal with Eddie Nketiah up front, who frankly is nowhere close to ‘Arsenal’ quality. Folarin Balogun would be the only other internal option, but he is likely not quite ready to be thrown in the deep end with another more senior striker to score the bulk of goals.
Aubameyang has breached discipline before at Arsenal, previously being dropped for the North London derby last Spring.
That being said, his strike rate for Arsenal is fairly impressive. The 32-year-old has 92 goals and 21 assists in 163 appearances for The Gunners.