Sven Mislintat Feels Aubameyang Isn't Selfish Enough for Real Madrid, Barcelona

Former Arsenal head of recruitment Sven Mislintat has suggested striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might have joined one of Real Madrid or Barcelona by now were he not so unselfish in his play. 

Mislintat—now sporting director at Stuttgart—advised Borussia Dortmund on transfers when they signed Aubameyang from Saint-Etienne in 2013, then helped recruit the forward again at Arsenal in January 2018.

The Athletic's Amy Lawrence (h/t Metro) recently spoke to Mislintat, who praised "team player" Aubameyang. He believes the Gabon international's selfless nature could be the reason he hasn't joined one of La Liga's giants:

"He is one, possibly the only one, of these extraordinary top, top, top strikers who is an absolute team player. A striker like Neymar or (Sergio) Aguero, for example, would never give a penalty to Pepe to score his first goal. It's vice versa—'come on, I will take this penalty kick, nobody else!' Auba gave the chance to Pepe. His instinct was, 'Let's score and let's go forward together.' He takes care about his team-mates.

"Since he joined Arsenal, he played where he was asked and needed, and so he helped especially Lacazette to adapt to the Premier League. Maybe this attitude costs him to play for clubs like Real Madrid or Barcelona but maybe they made a mistake not to go for him. I like his mindset. It is good for a team's atmosphere."

Mislintat referred to the story that Aubameyang promised his grandfather he would one day play for Los Blancos, often speaking of his affection for Real but "never about Barcelona."

The striker is yet to miss a minute of Arsenal's Premier League campaign and was named Player of the Month for September following a prolific run of goals:

The penalty Mislintat mentioned came in a dramatic 3-2 win over Aston Villa on September 22. Aubameyang gave summer signing Nicolas Pepe a spot-kick to equalise at 1-1, then went on to score the winner after Arsenal fell behind a second time.

Despite his generosity to team-mates, Aubameyang remains one of the front-runners in the race for this season's Premier League Golden Boot, per Goal:

The 30-year-old was the outright frontman at Dortmund, but the presence of Alexandre Lacazette—who joined Arsenal from Lyon in 2017—has seen him regularly shifted out wide in north London.

The competition for attacking places might have threatened to create friction between team-mates, but former Ligue 1 hitmen Aubameyang and Lacazette remain close friends, per BT Sport:

The Arsenal attacker has a contract at the Emirates Stadium until June 2021, and it isn't too late to envision Aubameyang potentially realising his Real Madrid dream in future.