6pm Arsenal news LIVE: Aubameyang must sign new deal or go in summer, Lacazette exit clause, Kolasinac injury update – The Sun
MIKEL ARTETA's Arsenal are preparing for Olympiacos in the Europa League this week.
But there are concerns over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's future, with the club reportedly set to sell him this summer if he continues to stall on a new deal.
Follow all the latest transfer gossip and updates from North London below…
G'NABBED HIM
Rio Ferdinand has revealed the time he bumped into Serge Gnabry when he was in a “depressive mood” over his time at Arsenal.
He told BT Sport: “Yeah I saw him in Dubai on the beach, him and [Hector] Bellerin came and they were just having a bit of time off.
“He was in a real kind of down, depressive kind of mood.
“He wasn’t playing, he wasn’t fancied and he was just talking about ‘I’m really going to work hard now, I’m really going to put my effort in, I’m going to train hard etc’.
“You could see the determination and the desire to actually become a player and what he’s done to go and turn his career around the way he has has been phenomenal.
“He deserves enormous credit for that because some players would fold under that disappointment of not playing somewhere.”
SHEER MADNESS
Bukayo Saka revealed that his first trip to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium was actually in the away end with Newcastle because his dad loved Alan Shearer.
The 18-year-old academy graduate has been a rare bright spark for the Gunners this season, providing ten assists in all competitions.
The teenager was handed a Premier League start by former manager Unai Emery in the 1-1 draw at Manchester United back in September and has gave an insight into his journey to the top.
He told the club's website: “I was standing on the pitch at Old Trafford before the game.
“It was just my second-ever start in the Premier League – and it finally hit me: I'm in the Arsenal first team.
“I had been here 10 years earlier with my dad, sitting in the away end with the Newcastle fans. My dad has always been a big football fan, he supported Newcastle because he loved Alan Shearer.
“I hadn't been to many stadiums at all, so it was a big moment for me, as an eight-year-old, to go to a game. But now here I was as a player.
“Being down on the pitch, looking up at the fans in the stands, it really hit me. I realised what was starting to happen.
“I just enjoyed playing, but I don't think I ever really thought I was going to make it to the first team until I actually signed my first professional contract when I turned 17.
“You go through the youth teams, year by year, and you see all these great players around you – some of them could be the best in the year – and slowly they are all let go, to other clubs or even stopping completely.
“So you could never be sure that you would make it, but what I said to myself is that I would always give my best in every single session.
“I always wanted to learn to get better, I always watched a lot of football to see how I could improve.
“But we had a big group at Hale End, and even though we had so many quality players, the coaches would always say, 'Look around the dressing room, only maybe one or possibly two of you will make it to the first team one day.'
“We would look at each other and wonder who it would be. I was always determined for it to be me, and so I wanted to do whatever it took to achieve that.”
WEN WILL IT END?
DAVID VILLA has become the latest star Arsene Wenger failed to sign for Arsenal after the Spaniard admitted he was “90 per cent certain” of securing a move to North London.
The former Gunners boss has become infamous for missing out on signing top talent cheaply early in their careers.
And Wenger can now add Villa to the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on his ever-growing miss-list.
Villa revealed to BBC Sport: “We were in a lot of meetings and a lot of calls.
“I felt 90 per cent in that moment that I [would] go to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.
“But in that moment we didn't arrive to the deal, Atletico Madrid arrived and in three or four days fixed everything.
“I don't know what would have happened if I'd signed for Arsenal.
“I'm very happy that I signed for Atletico Madrid, not just for winning the league but for everything.
“I'm very happy to have made that choice.”
LAC OF OPTIONS
Arsenal play Olympiacos at the Emirates tomorrow with a 1-0 lead frm the first-leg.
Here's how we predict they will line up for the Europa League clash.
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