Mikel Arteta’s first step as Arsenal manager should be to agree the sale of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has bizarrely claimed.
The former Gunners captain looks set to be named as Unai Emery’s replacement within the next 24 hours with the Spaniard reportedly bidding an emotional farewell to Manchester City players and staff on Thursday morning ahead of his official announcement.
Taking over at the Emirates will be no easy feat for a 37-year-old whose entire coaching CV consists of three years as an assistant under Pep Guardiola at Man City.
Arsenal fans have been calling out for years for someone to fix the side’s struggling defence and their struggles feel worse than ever this season, with the Gunners holding a goal difference of -3 after 17 Premier League games.
One of the team’s saving graces so many times over the last 18 months has been the partnership of Lacazette and Aubameyang, with the pair accounting for two thirds of Arsenal’s league goals so far this season.
But rather than building on that, Cascarion believes the two strikers are among five players Arteta should immediately push out the door upon his return to north London - a move which would leave the 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli as the most senior striker in the squad.
“The biggest challenge he will face is dealing with the senior players,” Cascarino told The Times .
“I remember when Ron Atkinson came into Aston Villa, he said to me immediately: 'I have agreed a fee with Celtic for you.'
“That is how Arteta should approach it, starting with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, David Luiz, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi.”
He continued: “I don’t even think he needs to give them a reason, he just needs to say, 'If I find a buyer, you’re gone.”
While selling your two best strikers might not seem like the greatest plan for a team struggling for an identity, Cascarino has a plan for a new face Arteta could bring in to help stabilise things: using his Man City connections to sign defensive midfielder Fernandinho.
"With Fernandinho’s contract due to expire at the end of the season, Arteta could bring him in from City to demonstrate to Arsenal ’s players what it takes to be a success," the ex-Chelsea man added.
