If Mikel Arteta is thinking about changing his Arsenal captain, it might be the perfect time to do so.
After dropping current skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from his matchday squad against Southampton due to disciplinary issues, the Gunners manager now has another big decision to make.
Given this is not the first time the 32-year-old has broken club protocol in the calendar year, the ultimate punishment would be to strip the striker of the Arsenal captain's armband.
Now, the north London outfit do have a history of changing captains mid-season with both Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery doing so with William Gallas and Granit Xhaka during their respective reigns.
It remains to be seen if Arteta follows suit, but former defender Martin Keown believes a change is inevitable.
"The captaincy is in question now," the Gunners legend said on Match of the Day. "You can’t keep being late or disappearing on trips abroad and not coming back on time, your team needs you and he’s not there when you need him most so I expect that to change."
Should Arteta take this hardline approach and strip Aubameyang of the captaincy, the question Arsenal fans will want answered is who would take over from the Gabon international?
Well, based on the Spaniard's decision against Southampton, Alexandre Lacazette would naturally be in line to make the step up from vice-captain.
Although, that might just be a temporary measure as the Frenchman - barring a sensational u-turn - won't even be an Arsenal player come the start of next season as he is expected to leave on a free when his contract expires in June 2022.
As a result, Arteta could just name Lacazette as his new captain for the remainder of the season, thus providing him with enough time to appoint a permanent captain ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Luckily for Arteta, his decision to quietly build an impressive young leadership group at Arsenal could pay off.
After a summer transfer window that saw six new players signed - all of whom are aged 23 or younger, the Spaniard revealed he Arteta could already see leaders in Martin Odegaard and Sambi Lokonga .
"I think we are building some leadership in the group," the Spaniard told Arsenal Media. "It’s a really young group, with a lot of players under 23. Martin is the captain of the national team and Sambi was the captain at Anderlecht."
In addition to Odegaard and Lokonga, Xhaka is another contender despite being stripped of the main role a few months after swearing at fans when he was booed following his substitution against Crystal Palace.
Kieran Tierney is a popular choice amongst many Arsenal supporters to be captain and Arteta has already earmarked the left-back for the main role one day.
"I think he can be Arsenal captain as he has the respect and admiration of every member of the staff and every player," Arteta said, as per Goal. "It is just the way he is. He does it in a natural way.
"He is a really shy boy as well but he represents all of us in the club; all of the values that we want to instil and are in the DNA in this club."
Another player who could be a contender is William Saliba.
The 20-year-old is spending the current campaign on loan at Marseille, but after captaining the France Under-21s during a recent international break, fans think Arteta has another leader in the ranks.
After all, being a leader is something that comes naturally to Saliba following his admission after joining Nice on loan for the second half of last season.
"Even though I’m young, I’ve come to be a leader," he said in a press conference.
Aside from Xhaka, the other four potential contenders to be the next Arsenal captain have been signed in the last two years which has cost the club a total of £97million in transfer fees - Odegaard (£30million), Lokonga (£15million), Tierney (£25million), Saliba (£27million).
At the time, the decision-makers may not have known that one of the quartet could go on to have a prominent role for the Gunners.
But with Arteta facing a big decision regarding what to do with Aubameyang, it could be that he turns to his leadership group to find his next Arsenal captain.
