Keown:Arsenal must strip contract rebel Aubameyang of captaincy
Arsenal legend, Martin Keown, has urged the club to strip contract rebel Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the captaincy despite him only taking over from Granit Xhaka in November.
The wantaway striker, 30, is edging closer to the Emirates exit door with just a year left on his current deal.
And the Emirates marksman may be allowed to leave North London if a bid as low as £20million lands, Sun Sport exclusively revealed.
He was handed the armband following Granit Xhaka’s bust-up with supporters in November but former Gunners defender Keown insists Aubameyang must be stripped off the role due to his contract woes.
The 53-year-old told talkSPORT: “I think the message needs to be to the player, ‘Look, we can’t have you captaining the club if there’s uncertainty around your contract’, in the last year of his contract, that can’t be allowed to happen.”
Keown also believes Aubameyang is destined for the exit door this summer with Chelsea also linked to the former Borussia Dortmund man.
However, interest from the Blues may have dwindled as they focus their attention on RB Leipzig marksman Timo Werner.
The defender-turned-pundit added: “I think he’ll leave with a heavy heart.
“I think he’s the nearest thing I have seen to Thierry Henry at the football club and the club will have to make swift decisions.
“They can’t allow what happened a few years ago with the transfers just going on and on. The club needs direction.”
The captain’s armband was nowhere to be seen on the Emirates ace during the Gunners 6-0 demolition of Charlton Athletic in a friendly on Saturday – but it isn’t unknown whether anybody acted as skipper on the day.
read also:Aubameyang still waiting on Barcelona’s offer
Mikel Arteta is thought to be determined to keep Aubameyang for the long-term but club bosses are desperate not to lose out on potential transfer funds by letting him go for free in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
Aubameyang is Arsenal’s top scorer with 20 goals this season as well as their second-highest earner, although he recently dropped his salary by £22,500-a-week as part of the 12.5 per cent pay cut agreed by the bulk of the squad.
But that hasn’t seemed to affect his lavish lifestyle as the Gabonese star offered fans a glimpse of his stunning mansion by letting MTV Cribs in to film.