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Pierre Alain Mounguengui, the president of Gabon’s football association (FEGAFOOT), has questioned whether Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will win the honours that his talent deserves if he remains at Arsenal, and has urged him to “secure a contract with a more ambitious club.”
The 30-year-old striker is the reigning equal top scorer in the English Premier League after netting 22 goals for the Gunners last term, but he is yet to clinch any silverware since swapping Borussia Dortmund for the Emirates Stadium in 2018.
For Mounguengui, the Londoners’ ambition cannot match that of some of Europe’s biggest clubs, where he says the forward may be better placed to win major honours.
“I don’t want to say that Arsenal aren’t ambitious, but Arsenal don’t have ambitions as high as some other clubs as far as Europe is concerned,” Mounguengui told ESPN.
“So if Pierre could secure a contract with a more ambitious club, he’d definitely find his place there.
“On an individual level, we all consider him to be among the best players in the world, but the advice I give to him is to continue to work and to attract the attention of the biggest clubs and the most ambitious clubs.”
Despite netting double figures in each of the past nine seasons across France, Germany and England, Aubameyang has only a German Cup, a German Super Cup, and a French League Cup to show for his immense talent and consistency in front of goal.
Since signing for the Gunners in 2018 — as the reigning Bundesliga top scorer — he’s been a defeated finalist twice, in the Carabao Cup final in 2018 and the Europa League last season.
He has been linked in transfer talk this year with Inter Milan and most recently with Barcelona.
“Aubameyang is a world-class player,” Mounguengui said, “but for him, or anyone else in Europe who hasn’t won a major honour, football is a collective sport.
“Right now, he’s at Arsenal, and he’s won nothing here, so it’s a collective failing.”
Aubameyang, who had scored 17 goals in the Premier League before the campaign was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, is approaching the final year of his contract at the Emirates, and Mounguengui insists that it’s not too late for the striker to find a club where he can secure one of the game’s big prizes.
“All Gabonese people see Aubameyang at this level, where he can now end his career at a major club,” the FEGAFOOT chief said, “and, above all, beyond individual trophies, to bring home a major competition.
“Auba has the habit of saying that if club honours could come, that wouldn’t be bad, but that he could also settle for the personal accolades he’s won. As I said, he’s a world-class player.”