Calvert-Lewin had a brilliant 2020/2021 season but has been sidelined by injury for a greater part of the first half of the 2021/2022 season
By Kehinde Okeowo
Arsenal legend Paul Merson has advised his former club to sign Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin after Barcelona signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the last day of the January transfer window.
The former Gunners midfielder said this in his column in the Daily Star, while applauding Arsenals’ decision to offload Aubameyang in January.
Before Aubameyang found the escape route to the La Liga outfit, he was frozen out of the Arsenal squad by his then manager, Mikel Arteta for disciplinary reasons.
Meanwhile, Dominic Calvert-Lewin after a very prolific season in 2020/2021, has been sidelined by injury for the greater part of the first half of this season.
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According to Merson, Arsenal did well by letting Aubameyang go to Barcelona, he went on to say the Gabon captain was unplayable before he signed his mega-contract, but he has since gone off the boil
He said: “For once, I say fair play to Arsenal on Aubameyang. They’ve made a decision. Too often they’ve taken the easy option. Not this time.
“They just wanted rid of him and they got it done. Before he got his contract Aubameyang was unplayable. But he wasn’t really performing this season and the rift between him and the manager had got too big.”
He also added that now that they have gotten rid of £350,000-a-week Aubameyang, they have freed up a lot of wages to get another quality striker who will not be as expensive as Arsenals’ former captain.
“Now they’ve got to get their work done and make sure they’ve got a top drawer center-forward signed up on day one in the summer. I like what they’ve done.
“They’ve freed up a lot of wages and whoever comes in won’t be saying: ‘Aubameyang gets £350,000-a-week. I want £350,000-a-week as well.’ That’s nipped in the bud now.
“They won’t be held to ransom. And they can use the money they’ve saved to get a top-class player like Calvert-Lewin,” he added.