‘I can’t tell him to stay when I left’ – Henry unsure of Aubameyang future

May 8, 2020

Arsenal’s all-time leading scorer Henry told Sky Sports of the decision facing Aubameyang: “Everybody will do whatever they have to do. How am I going to say to someone to stay when I left? Things happen but that doesn’t kill the love that you have for a place.

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“As an Arsenal fan you want him to stay, but as a football player he will assess the situation with his family, with his dad, and see what is the best for them.

“If you’re an Arsenal man then you don’t want him to leave, but the guy has a career and I don’t know what’s in his head.

“All I know is that we are definitely going to miss his goals if he does leave. He does score goals and if you take the goals of Aubameyang away, it’s a tough one.

“I respect people and what they have to go through and what desire or dream they have, but as an Arsenal man, any Arsenal fan would be crazy to say he should leave.

“I don’t want him to leave, but on the other side you have to understand the guy has a life and maybe he needs to see something else. Who knows? I hope that he stays.”

If Arsenal can convince Aubameyang to stay put, there will be even more signs of encouragement for the club since Mikel Arteta inherited the managerial reins.

Henry admits as much, with a coronavirus-enforced break coming at the worst possible time for a team that had started to rebuild consistency and momentum.

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The iconic Frenchman added on the progress being made: “It’s a tough one because Mikel Arteta was getting them to a certain place, you could see the organisation, they were more compact, difficult to beat, and then that happened.

“I can tell you as a coach now that is not easy to deal with because you want to carry on with what you are doing. With the players, although you are talking to them it is better to train and try to see what you can do after training at the weekend.

“It depends on who is going to leave, who is not going to leave. We don’t know about that. Who’s going to come?

“I just want Arsenal to do well and compete. I wish them the best all the time. Mikel Arteta, too, because that’s a tough job, as everyone knows. We have to give him time.”