The Arsenal captains who quit as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang considers summer transfer

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Arsenal fans look set for another summer of fretting over the future of their club captain, with star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang entering the final year of his contract and yet to agree a new deal.

The Gabon forward has attracted interest from the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid and suggested over the weekend that it is down to the Gunners hierarchy to convince him to extend his stay.

Manager Mikel Arteta has not yet given up hope of persuading his leading goal scorer to commit his future to the club by signing what, as he turns 31, will likely be the last major contract of his career.

But it is a situation that Arsenal have found themselves in regularly over the past fifteen years. And while some captains – including the likes of Arteta and Per Mertesacker, who now work for the club – have only relinquished the armband at the end of their careers, several skippers have departed either in their prime or in acrimonious circumstances.

Here are five examples…

Patrick Vieira

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The Frenchman was made Arsenal’s first new captain since the 1980s when Tony Adams retired in 2002 and is regarded as one of the greatest to ever wear the armband, leading the side to an unbeaten Premier League triumph in 2003/04.

Vieira left to join Juventus in 2005 – after he’d sealed an FA Cup final shootout win over Manchester United with his final kick in an Arsenal shirt – and went on to add to his trophy collection with Inter Milan and Man City.

Thierry Henry

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Henry inherited the armband from his international teammate in 2005 and led the team during their final season at Highbury and their first at the Emirates.

He never lifted a trophy as captain but came within 14 minutes of winning the biggest prize of all in the 2006 Champions League final, the first in the club’s history, before joining Barcelona 12 months later.

Cesc Fabregas

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Fabregas was named captain as a 21-year-old in the middle of the 2007/08 season after William Gallas was stripped of the armband following his infamous on-field strop at the end of a dramatic 2-2 draw at Birmingham.

The Spaniard was another who never got to lift a trophy as captain – through little fault of his own – but upset some fans when, after years of speculation, he reportedly forced through a return to boyhood club Barcelona in 2011.

Robin van Persie

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The Dutchman was an obvious choice as Fabregas’ successor and performed wonders on the pitch during his only season as captain, finishing as the Premier League’s top scorer and sweeping the Footballer of the Year awards as he dragged an underwhelming side into the top four almost single-handedly.

However, his relationship with the club’s fans soured when he refused to sign a new contract, moving to rivals Manchester United in a cut-price deal in the summer of 2012. To make matters worse, his goals the following season helped fire Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to the title.

Laurent Koscielny

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Unlike the previous four mentioned, Koscielny’s career was clearly winding down by the time he left the club last summer, having been plagued by Achilles injuries for more than a year.

But the manner of his departure still left a bad taste in the mouth, first as he refused to take part in the Gunners’ preseason tour of the US and then as he removed an Arsenal shirt in a bizarre unveiling video at new club Bordeaux.

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