Former Premier League star Gabriel Agbonlahor gave a less than a complimentary verdict on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s most recent performance for Arsenal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would ‘1000%’ do better for Arsenal if he was in talks for a new contract, says Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Similar to last season, Aubameyang has struggled to be at his prolific best. The Gabonese star has scored only twice in six Premier League games. His woes have coincided with Arsenal boasting the league’s fifth-worst attacking record, having bagged just five goals in seven matches.
A woeful performance from Aubameyang and Arsenal in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Brighton did little to calm fears.
But Agbonlahor thinks it would be a different story if there was a new and improved contract on the table for Aubameyang, who has less than two years on the deal he signed in September 2020.
“You can’t just keep someone on the pitch if they aren’t performing,” the former Aston Villa man said on talkSPORT. “It’s different with [Cristiano] Ronaldo because he is one of the greatest ever players.
“But Aubameyang was poor. He wasn’t holding the ball up. It didn’t look like he had that pace to get in behind that Brighton defense, and it was the right call to bring him off. When you are looking for a new contract, there is no lie. Your performances are going to go up.
“Once the contract is signed, naturally you are going to take it down a gear, at least, that’s what you can see in Aubameyang’s performances since he has signed that contract.
“Where’s the hunger [on Saturday] say if he was still negotiating his contract for £300k-a-week? Let’s be honest, if he was still negotiating a contract, he would have got a better performance 1000% against Brighton.”
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