Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's recent woes have proved Jamie Carragher and Troy Deeney right after they criticised the Arsenal forward.
Mikel Arteta has dropped the club captain for some big games in recent weeks, including against Tottenham and in the Europa League match vs Slavia Prague on Thursday night.
It has been a tough year for Aubameyang, who has seen his form plummet over the course of the season.
For Arsenal, their term in the Premier League has been a nightmare with them sitting 10th in the table.
And their campaign in the Europa League looks close to coming to an end after drawing 1-1 against Slavia Prague at the Emirates.
At the start of the season, there was a lot of commotion made over whether Aubameyang would sign a new contract or not, with his deal set to expire this summer.
The Gabon international did end up putting pen to paper but his form has fallen off a cliff.
Prior to signing the contract, Aubameyang had scored 22 times in 31 games, converting a whopping 29 per cent of his chances.
However, that has changed and the 31-year-old has just 12 in the same timeframe - with a conversion rate of just 17 per cent.
That includes just one goal in his last seven appearances for the Gunners which backs up Deeney's claim that his Arsenal dispute has affected his form.
He said: “Normally strikers have a favoured position and that’s his in the box and he’s going through one of those moments. He had a short pre-season and the contract stuff affected him.”
And Carragher voiced a similar opinion in his Telegraph column, writing: “It is easy to apply retrospective wisdom when looking at the lucrative contract given to Aubameyang and say it was an expensive mistake. It wasn’t at the time.
“Aubameyang deserved to be rewarded for his performances. There was relief from fans when he committed his future. Had he left, there would have been criticism of the club and accusations of lack of ambition.
“Since then he has been a shadow of the striker he was. That’s his responsibility, not that of the Arsenal board. He owes the club far more than he is delivering.”
