Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang warned Manchester United transfer is riskier than staying at Arsenal

Tom Doyle12 April 2020

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been warned by a former Gunner than moving to a club like Manchester United at this stage of his career is a riskier prospect than staying at Arsenal.

Aubameyang, 30, is yet to commit his long-term future to Arsenal, with his current contract running out in summer 2021.

The lack of a breakthrough in contract talks raises the possibility that Arsenal may have to sell their captain in the next transfer window unless they want to risk losing the Gabon international for free next summer.

With Arsenal struggling this season before the coronavirus shutdown and Champions League qualification looking unlikely, the president of Gabon's FA recently suggested that Aubameyang may be better served by joining a bigger European club at this stage of his career.

Aubameyang will be 31 in June and though he looks at the peak of his powers with 17 Premier League goals so far this term, time may be running out for him to win top honours unless Mikel Arteta's rebuild is ahead of schedule.

IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images

However, former Gunner Paul Merson suggests that were Aubameyang to move to another club - with League rivals Manchester United looking for a striker - he would not enjoy the same status he does in north London.

"I was very fortunate to play for Arsenal for a long time and make no mistake about it, it's a great club," Merson told Sky Sports. "The grass is not always green on the other side, you have got to be careful.

"Aubameyang is at an age now where he will play every week for Arsenal. If he goes to, say, Manchester United or somewhere else, four or five bad games and you are out of the team.

"He's going to play every week at Arsenal and when you are coming towards the end of your career, two or three years to go, you have got to enjoy your football and play.

"If I were Aubameyang's agent I would be stressing that he is at one of the best clubs in the world, a phenomenal football club that has as much chance as anybody, bar Manchester City and Liverpool, winning something. For me, I would stay."

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