The president of Gabon's football association, Pierre Alain Mounguengui, has called on the nation's captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave Arsenal in order to find a club that matches his ambitions.
Arsenal are in the midst of their worst top-flight season for more than 50 years, with one of the few shining lights in an otherwise dismal campaign being the continuing brilliance of their captain.
Having joint-top scored in last season's Premier League with 22 goals, Aubameyang is on 17 for the current season, just two behind current leader Jamie Vardy. In total, the 30-year-old has 61 goals for the club in just 97 outings, naturally drawing a wide range of suitors with his outstanding scoring rates in north London.
A plethora of sides have been linked with signing the striker, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and even Chelsea - 90min understands - keeping tabs on the Gabonese forward. With Arsenal looking like enduring another season without Champions League football next term, Mounguengui has urged his compatriot to seek new pastures in order to match his ambitions.
"I don't want to say that Arsenal aren't ambitious, but Arsenal don't have ambitions as high as some other clubs as far as Europe is concerned," Mounguengui told ESPN. "So if Pierre could secure a contract with a more ambitious club, he'd definitely find his place there.
"On an individual level, we all consider him to be among the best players in the world, but the advice I give to him is to continue to work and to attract the attention of the biggest clubs and the most ambitious clubs."
Silverware has evaded Aubameyang during his time with the Gunners, being on the losing side in two finals - the Carabao Cup and Europa League - while this season the FA Cup is all that remains for the club to win. Mounguengui continued to plough on with his thoughts, claiming that staying with the club is a matter of 'failing'.
He added: "Aubameyang is a world-class player, but for him, or anyone else in Europe who hasn't won a major honour, football is a collective sport. Right now, he's at Arsenal, and he's won nothing here, so it's a collective failing.
"All Gabonese people see Aubameyang at this level, where he can now end his career at a major club and, above all, beyond individual trophies, to bring home a major competition.
"Auba has the habit of saying that if club honours could come, that wouldn't be bad, but that he could also settle for the personal accolades he's won. As I said, he's a world-class player."
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Source :
90min
