Ray Parlour says Arsenal would be mad to sell Aubameyang to United
Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has said that the Gunners would be mad to sanction the surprise transfer of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to arch-rivals Manchester United. The Gabon international recently had a fantastic season with 31 goals across all competitions but that did not benefit the club to the fullest as they failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
As such, there has been the speculation that Aubameyang could be offloaded to boost the club’s meagre £45m kitty for the summer and United have emerged as shock contenders of late. Speaking to TalkSPORT, Parlour said that the player power has been ruling modern football but it would be madness for the Gunners to part ways with the 30-year-old.
He added that the move won’t go well with the supporters, considering how Robin van Persie won the 2012/2013 Premier League title with United shortly after leaving the Emirates Stadium, he quipped: “It would be madness to let him go, but players have got all the power these days. Aubameyang and Lacazette have been absolutely brilliant this season. It looks like they’ve got a really good relationship up front, you can see how they celebrate goals.
“I’d be amazed by that [if he signed for United], I really would. That would shock me. That wouldn’t be good from an Arsenal supporters’ point of view – we all remember when Robin van Persie left to United and they ended up winning the league the following season…. When I go to pre-season, I’m really hoping Aubameyang is on that plane.”
Aubameyang and Lacazette formed a great partnership playing together during the second half of the previous season and they were influential towards the Gunners making the Europa League final after beating the likes of Napoli and Valencia. However, they could not cross the final hurdle against Chelsea, who beat them by a comfortable 4-1 score and that has meant that they won’t have Champions League football for the third season running.