The Arsenal board are extremely concerned that the failings of manager Unai Emery could see them lose two of their top stars, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claims that the Gunners power-brokers are worried that strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will both leave the club amid contract impasses.
The world class duo, on a reported combined £382,000-per-week at the Emirates Stadium [Source: Spotrac], haven’t shown any eagerness to sign extensions to their current deals.
Both want to play Champions League football, something that looks a long way off under Emery, and so the board are concerned that if the team’s slump continues they could lose their best players.
Are these exits likely to happen?
Well, both men are tied down until the summer of 2022, so this perhaps isn’t an immediate issue. However, something is clearly going to change if Arsenal want to keep – and attract – players of the quality of Aubameyang and Lacazette.
If the club continue to slip down the Premier League table, and continue to miss out on Europe’s premier club competition, then they will struggle to keep their best players, something which has been an issue for some time now.
The Gunners faithful have seen the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain depart for bigger challenges over the years, and who’s to say that that won’t happen again here?
The obvious solution, of course, is to simply sack the manager. Yes, that might well work, but the next appointment would then be crucial for the north London giants.
