ARSENAL stopper Emiliano Martinez has urged FA Cup hero Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to sign a new contract.
The Gunners are desperate to keep their star striker and are preparing a three-year deal worth £250,000-a-week to tempt him to stay, write the Mirror.
— Emiliano Martínez (@emimartinezz1) August 1, 2020
Aubameyang, who scored twice at Wembley as Arsenal celebrated their record 14th FA Cup win, is out of contract at the end of next season.
The 31-year-old currently pockets £200,000-a-week on his current salary.
But despite the coronavirus pandemic, Arsenal will pull out all the stops including a bumper pay rise to ensure Aubameyang commits his future at the Emirates.
Goalkeeper Martinez is certainly playing his part after a less-than subtle hint to his team-mate on social media.
Replying to a comment from the striker on Twitter standing alongside boss Mikel Arteta, he posted a series of emojis that included a pen and paper.
Arteta pleaded with the ex-Borussia Dortmund man to stay and challenged him to become a club legend.
He said after the final: “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.”
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.
Aubameyang knows he holds all the cards and rumoured interest from Barcelona remains an unwelcome distraction for Arsenal.
The Catalan giants are in the market for a new forward and have ruled out moves for Lautaro Martinez and Neymar.
