Why it’s time for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal to take a £54million gamble on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

One thing that is abundantly clear to all Arsenal fans is that their side need someone who can put the ball in the back of the net on a consistent basis.
For a while this season they had those players in Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez, before he did his hamstring and lost all his magic powers.

However, since they lost form the team have struggled to score, and far too many times Danny Welbeck would work a great opening only to fluff his lines.
He has many talents, but finishing isn’t one of them.


What makes this all so much worse is the calls from the fans have been calling on the club to sign a striker. They have been long and loud.
It was expected that Arsenal would dip into the transfer market during the summer to bring in a big name front man but nothing materialised.

With hindsight, it’s not hard to understand why Arsene Wenger kept his money in his pocket.
What players were there available that would have improved the front line, brought with them the reputation that Gooners demanded, were willing to move and playing at a club that was willing to sell?

Arsenal continue to be linked with a host of strikers by the media, however, one rumour refuses to go away.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been has been on fire this season and his market value has never been higher.

It’s no surprise that Borussia Dortmund tied him down to a new five-year deal in the summer.
Yet every player has a price – in this case, around €70million (£54m) for the Gabon international.

In the pre-Mesut Ozil days, we could have dismissed this link out of hand because, quite simply, Arsenal wouldn’t pay that sort of money.
With Mesut Ozil, they changed the playing field and now money alone is not enough to simply rule Arsenal out of the running.


Aubameyang would improve Arsenal immediately on the pitch but not in the eyes of the bank, and no matter how much we want to think that the penny-pinching days of the last decade are coming to a close, that’s not the case for players in the elite tier price bracket of £50m and up.


Arsenal may appear to play the game and tell us all that the stadium move allows us to buy whatever player we want, but that simply isn’t the case.
We can’t buy whatever player we want because the manager won’t pay whatever it takes.
This is both a good and bad thing.


It’s good because he won’t be reckless and risk the club.
It’s bad because we need a striker.
It’s hard to think that Aubameyang would be a gamble in the Premier League, but nothing is 100 per cent certain.


Should Arsenal pay €70m for him? Previously I’d have said no, but watching this side huff and fluff in front of goal, my heart is overruling my head here.
Give it a go, Arsene. You know you want to.