MIKEL ARTETA is urging skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to sign a new contract and become an Arsenal legend.
Gunners chiefs will this week offer their FA Cup final match-winner fresh terms — but he wants a three-year deal worth £250,000 a week.
Aubameyang, who scored twice to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley, is out of contract in less than a year.
Manager Arteta said: “Scoring is the most difficult thing in football. He makes it look simple — look at the second goal. We have always had incredible strikers at this club and Auba deserves to be named and compared with the big names.
“By winning trophies he will be closer to them and, hopefully, we can have him for longer.”
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Arteta was referring to Gunners greats such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright.
Arsenal do have a clause they can trigger by December 31 which would give them a one-year extension for Aubameyang for the 2021-22 season.
The entire package — which includes a massive one-off bonus payment — would cost £20m for the season. It would mean shelling out an average of £400,000 a week in wages for their 29-goal top scorer.
Arteta was appointed boss in December and he staged talks with Gabon superstar Aubameyang, 31, and urged him to work harder off the ball.
The former Gunners midfielder explained: “The biggest problem was to convince him to work in the way we wanted him to.
“He was going to get more reward and more respect. And our respect would go to admiration.
“Admiration from his team-mates and the people who have been with him and also from fans.
“The way that he is conducting himself, on and off the field, he has that admiration.”
Arteta is delighted with the club’s 14th FA Cup success — which means Arsenal are once again in the Europa League.
He said: “I didn’t want to add too much pressure to the players as I knew how important it was as we needed Europe.
“It is a must for our club and financially because it is a bigger step forward.
“It allows us to do more things in the future and have a better structure financially.
“I am very pleased with both things — winning the trophy and having the option to play in Europe.”
