As Arsenal surge ahead, disgruntled forwards eye the exit

Aubameyang, Lacazette, Pepe and Nketiah face an uncertain future at Gunners

Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah with the match ball and Charlie Patino celebrate their Carabao Cup win over Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium. Reuters

Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal battles for possession with Corry Evans of Sunderland during their Carabao Cup quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. Getty

Eddie Nketiah scores Arsenal's fourth goal for his hat-trick against Sunderland. Getty

Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah, center, celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal at the Emirates Stadium. AP

Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe vies for the ball with Sunderland's Tom Flanagan. AP

Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe, second right, celebrates with teammates after scoring against Sunderland. EPA

Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe scores in the Carabao Cup quarter-final. AFP

For Mikel Arteta, it is a tale of four forwards, all with an uncertain future. While Arsenal have surged from last to fourth, each of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe and Eddie Nketiah could be eyeing the exit.

Aubameyang has been the headline act, the deposed club captain who has been omitted from the squad for the last four games. Arteta insisted he has not selected his squad to face Norwich on Sunday, so the Gabonese’s exile could continue indefinitely. “We will go game by game,” said the manager, giving few clues. But other attackers’ form has lessened the need to recall Aubameyang.

And a £56 million buy may not be the most expensive issue at the Emirates Stadium. Nicolas Pepe is the club record signing, a player whose £72 million fee long appeared excessive.

Pepe finished last season with five goals in three games and scored in Tuesday’s 5-1 Carabao Cup defeat of Sunderland but has not started in the Premier League for two months and has played just seven minutes in Arsenal’s last eight top-flight fixtures. He has been sidelined by the form of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard. He has voiced his unhappiness with Arteta.

“A player that doesn’t play, if he’s happy you have a big problem,” said the Arsenal manager. “Nico has not been happy, he’s been trying to challenge us and asking us for more minutes because this is what he wants to do and rightly so. That’s the attitude we want from our players.”

Pepe has a contract until 2024. He and Arsenal may be stuck with each other. In contrast, Lacazette and Nketiah’s deals expire in the summer. Nketiah scored a close-range hat-trick against Sunderland but has had only 38 minutes of Premier League football this season. He is yet to really benefit from Aubameyang’s fall from grace. “With the way he’s performing and training, he deserves more minutes, regardless of what happens with any other player,” said Arteta.

At 22, Nketiah has only made 13 league starts in his career. He was a target for Crystal Palace in the summer and while Arteta is keen to keep him, he has rejected Arsenal’s offers of a new deal.

“The [current] contract has an expiry date and you cannot control that and we have had discussions with Eddie for a long time,” said the Spaniard.

“His genuine intention is that he wants to play football and that's the thing that is driving whatever decision he's going to take for his future and you have to respect that. He’s a player that we admire and that we want to keep, that has come through the system and we will continue to do our best to keep him because we want him to be part of our project.”

Only Lacazette of the quartet looks pivotal now. “We are really happy,” Arteta said. “The way he's performing, the way he's acting and he has to continue like this.”

Lacazette has taken the armband from Aubameyang and was hugely influential in Saturday’s 4-1 win at Leeds, but could discuss a free transfer move to a foreign club from the start of January. His options, however, could involve spearheading a youthful and in-form Arsenal side.

The cloud on the horizon for Arteta is the possibility games in England could go back behind closed doors in England, as they will in Wales and Scotland. “Please don't go back to that stage,” said Arteta. “Because we have experienced that and it's something we don't like so hopefully it's not what happens. Nobody wants to go back to where we were.”