MATCH OF THE STAY THE STAY
Aubameyang: Signing the new deal was never in doubt – now I want to become an Arsenal legend Grealish: I didn’t know where I was going to be, but the owners convinced me of their ambitions and new signings are brilliant
GUNNERS hot- shot Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finally signed a new contract yesterday – and is poised to become Arsenal’s highest earner.
The deal is loaded with incentives and bonuses which would take him past the £350,000-a-week wages pocketed by Emirates team-mate Mesut Ozil.
And as the 31-year-old completed his three-year deal, the whole world was watching. Aubameyang announced it on official club channels, with more than 100,000 tuning in on Instagram.
Arsenal also streamed a live video from the Emirates to millions of fans across the globe and made it a huge event as the Gabon international vowed to deliver trophies and “big things” for the club.
Aubameyang, who helped Gunners to an FA Cup triumph last season, said: “I’m so happy to stay here. I want to stay here and become an Arsenal legend.
I want to leave a legacy. Arsenal fans, I’ve just signed da ting! It’s done, I’m really happy to be staying here. This is my home. It’s a great day. I just can’t wait for you to be back here.
“Signing for this special club was never in doubt. It’s thanks to our fans, my team-mates, my family and everybody at this club that I feel like I belong h e re . I believe in Arsenal.
“We can achieve big things together. We have something exciting here and I believe the best is to come for Arsenal.”
It is a huge boost for Arsenal to be able to keep their top scorer and the news was immediately welcomed by former Gunners striker Ian Wright.
Wright said: “Thank you for signing. Others have left us in the past but you stayed when we needed you most.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who has had to bat away questions about
Aubameyang’s future, said: “It was important for PierreEmerick to stay with us. He’s a superb player with an incredible mentality. Being the player to have taken the least amount of time to reach 50 goals with this club tells you everything you need to know about him and his way of working.
“He’s an important leader for the team and a big part of what we’re building. He wants to be up there with the best players in the world and leave his mark. He can achieve that here.”
But Arsenal are still in the market for new signings and Arteta (with Aubameyang, above) is expecting more comings and goings in the transfer window. The Spaniard wants to raise cash to push for two midfielders.
Arsenal still want Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey, who is keen to move to the Emirates. The stumbling block is that Atletico want more than £50million for him. They also want Lyon playmaker Houssem Aouar but the French club want more than £40m for the 22-year-old. That means Arteta will have to sell before he can buy.
Stand-in goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is poised to join Aston Villa while Sead Kolasinac, Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira are surplus to requirements and will be allowed to leave.
Torreira looks set to move to Italy and West Ham are interested in Kolasinac. Valencia are in pole position to sign Guendouzi after Arsenal failed to offload him in a player-pluscash deal for either Aouar or Partey.
Arteta does not want to lose Hector Bellerin but Paris Saint-Germain are interested and, if the French club push for a deal and Arsenal cannot sell others, then it could still happen.
JACK GREALISH admits Aston Villa made him a mega offer he “couldn’t turn down” after signing a huge new deal to stay.
Villa had slapped an £ 80million price tag on Grealish this summer amid interest from Manchester United.
But the Villa captain has opted to remain at his local club on a £130,000-a-week, five-year deal.
Grealish says the ambitions of wealthy owners Nassef Sawiris, the Egyptian billionaire, and Wes Edens convinced him to stay.
And he has doubled his weekly salary on terms which tie him to his boyhood club until 2025.
The new England international is now fired-up to play after helping save Dean Smith’s side from relegation on the final day of last season.
Grealish, 25, who has been with his local club since he was eight, said: “It was a deal I got offered which I couldn’t turn down.
“I can have my head straight for the start of the season now. That was one of the main things too.
“I wanted to start the season knowing where I am going to be. I didn’t want to play a few games for Villa and then end up moving.
“I am thankful it is all sorted.
“If big clubs are being linked with you, you know you are doing something well, but it has been difficult with me being a Villa fan and captain of the club.
“I didn’t know where I was going to be over the summer.
“But I had a chat before the Manchester United friendly with chief executive Christian Purslow (with Grealish, below) and the manager for 45 minutes.
“I also spoke to Nassef on FaceTime and the way they were speaking was crucial in me signing this deal.
“The hopes they have for the club were a massive factor. I believe in the project they want to go forward with.
“I want to repay them now by building on what I did last season and hopefully getting more goals and more assists to push Villa up the table.”
Grealish ended up with eight goals and six assists in the Premier League last term. And it earned him a maiden England call-up this month as he made his debut off the bench against Denmark.
Villa have also added club-record signing striker Ollie Watkins for £28m from Brentford and £14m rightback Matty Cash from
Nottingham Forest. And they are close to the £16m signing of Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martinez and Lyon’s £ 18m winger Bertrand Traore.
Grealish said: “They have brought in two brilliant players already and there will be more coming through the door.
“It is something we need. I know last season we finished 17th and everyone wanted to finish higher, but in the end we were probably lucky if anything to stay in the league.
“With four games to go I don’t think a lot of people thought that was going to happen.
“But I always had faith in myself and the team.”
Villa will begin this season’s Premier League campaign at home to Sheffield United on Monday.
If Grealish sees out the duration of his contract it raises the prospect of him potentially becoming a oneclub man.
That is an increasingly rare thing in football, but Ryan Giggs spent his whole career at United from 19902014.