Arsenal legend Tony Adams says that his former team must try to keep captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the club this summer.

The 30-year-old is closing in on the final twelve months of his contract at the Emirates, with reports claiming that the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Manchester United could snap him up for £50m.

However, Adams believes that if the Gunners have any pretensions about building a squad that can challenge for the title, they need to ensure Aubameyang stays:

“If I was a coach I’d be saying ‘don’t sell Aubameyang at any price, we need to recruit, bring players through the academy and keep our best players’.”

“It is a completely different club today and I think recruitment at Arsenal for a good few years has not been great. Now we seem to be selling our best players and you are never going to recruit a championship squad selling all your best players.”

Head of Football Raul Sanllehi and CEO Vinai Venkatesham have vowed to ensure no more players leave Arsenal on free transfers like Aaron Ramsey did last summer.

They run the risk of something similar happening with Aubameyang, unless the Gabonese international signs a new deal. There are currently no signs suggesting an extension is imminent which leaves the club with a dilemma.

Cashing in on the striker would make sense financially but the current global situation means they may be unable to replace him with a player of similar quality. Adams may well be right about keeping him at the club.