Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang receives loan offer from Saudi club Al Nassr
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could leave Arsenal this month after Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr made an offer for the Gunners striker.
Al Nassr have made an offer to take Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on loan until the end of the season, according to CBS Sports. Arsenal have yet to respond to the bid, which would include an obligation to buy for €8 million, but are believed to be ready to part ways with the Gabon international after dropping him from their squad at the end of 2021.
Aubameyang did not feature for Arsenal in the five games leading up to his departure for the Africa Cup of Nations. The 32-year-old was stripped of the club captaincy and dropped from the first team after returning late from a sanctioned trip abroad. The Gunners are now looking for a new number nine. Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic is their main target to fill the central attacking void.
Sent home from AFCON
The Arsenal forward did not feature in either of Gabon’s opening two games at the finals, missing the victory over Comoros after contracting coronavirus and then being ruled out of Friday’s draw with Ghana due to a heart concern. Aubameyang and Gabon team mate Mario Lemina, who plays for Ligue 1 club Nice, have been sent back from the Africa Cup of Nations to their respective clubs in an effort to clear up concerns.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: "He is in London and now he is going through some examinations, because we haven't had any clarity from the Gabon national team about the reasons why he came back so obviously it is our obligation to make sure that medically the player is safe, he is in good condition and not any issues related to that - and to try to avoid any suggestion that is the case because so far historically everything we have done with the player, he has never had an issue. Hopefully that is the case.
"Let's go step by step and do the right examinations and make sure the players' health is in the best possible condition, and then we'll see what happens."
Out of form Aubameyang
The former Arsenal captain has struggled with multiple bouts of covid-19 as well as a case of malaria last May. His form on the pitch has suffered since signing a new contract with the Premier League side before the start of the 2020/21 campaign.