Arsenal will sit down with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before the end of the season to assess the striker’s future intentions, Mikel Arteta has confirmed, with the manager stressing he wants to keep the club captain “under any circumstances”.
Aubameyang’s contract expires in the summer of 2021 and the prospect of losing their most important player, who has scored 61 goals in 96 appearances since his arrival two years ago, is unthinkable for Arsenal. Arteta, who admitted last weekend that Champions League football would be a significant factor for any of his squad wavering about committing for the long-term, wants to set discussions in motion sooner rather than later.
“We will have to do that at some stage before the end of the season for sure and we will see the intentions we have. His intentions [too]. Where we are sitting [in the league table] in that moment. It’s difficult to predict that context right now. For me it is very easy: I want to keep him under any circumstances.”
Arteta has a different kind of headache regarding Lucas Torreira, whom the club confirmed faces a layoff after sustaining a fractured right ankle following a tackle from James Bolton in Monday’s FA Cup win at Portsmouth. Torreira will visit a specialist on Friday to learn more about the extent of the injury. Arteta, who described Torreira as positive despite the setback, has not given up hope the Uruguayan can play a part in Arsenal’s late push for the European spots.
“Hopefully he can avoid any surgery, which is always very traumatic,” he said. “And hopefully we can have him before the end of the season.”
Arsenal host West Ham on Saturday and hope a third consecutive league win would build momentum in a deeply frustrating campaign. They learned on Tuesday their match at Manchester City, which had previously been postponed because of the Carabao Cup final, will take place next Wednesday. It is an absurd amount of notice to give travelling fans for a midweek fixture at the other end of the country and Arteta expressed sympathy, while suggesting the timing also piles pressure on a calendar he has previously said is too full.
“The ones that are paying the price for it are our fans, [who have no] time to plan,” he said. “Even for us it was not the right day to play the game for the schedule that we have, but we don’t make those decisions. We have to try to support the fans as much as possible and give them everything they need to be able to travel to Manchester and support the team. It’s not ideal.”