Bernd Leno Plays Down Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Arsenal Exit Rumours

Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno has said he wasn't aware of any player pushing for an exit from the club in the January transfer window following speculation linking captain Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng with a move to Barcelona.

The Gabon international is rated as one of the best strikers in England, and his contract at the Emirates Stadium expires at the end of the 2020-21 season.

As a result, talk about a possible switch has started to gradually intensify. When asked about players potentially wanting out of the club midseason, Leno said he didn't pick up on any great desire from his team-mates to depart, per Charles Watts of Goal:

"Of course there are many rumours and other people talk about this. But you never had the feeling that any player was thinking about another club or wanted to leave, was refusing to train or they didn’t have the mentality in the training. 

"Everybody can see we have a new manager and a new mentality. We want to build something here at Arsenal. You can see on the pitch all these rumours [don’t affect] these players—they are fighting, they are leading the team and this is the only way."

According to Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph, Barcelona put Aubameyang at the top of their list of targets in January, with Luis Suarez set to miss the majority of the campaign because of a knee injury.

After sharing the story, Law reflected on a potentially difficult decision when it comes to the Arsenal captain:

However, the striker stayed at Arsenal, and new manager Mikel Arteta will be hoping his skipper can help fire the club up the Premier League table. The Gunners drew 0-0 at Burnley on Sunday, with Aubameyang missing a number of good chances:

While he was profligate against the Clarets, the forward has been lethal in his two years in north London:

It feels as though the talk about a possible transfer is only on hold for Aubameyang, though, with speculation likely to build for as long as a contract extension remains unsigned.

Arsenal still lean heavily on the former Borussia Dortmund man, who has 14 Premier League goals this season. In 2019-20, Alexandre Lacazette has struggled to find the back of the net, and while Gabriel Martinelli is an exciting prospect, at 18, he can't be relied upon to lead the line consistently.

Come the summer, the club may have to consider selling Aubameyang for an amount below his market value because of his contract situation. It will be intriguing to see how hard Arsenal push to tie him down to fresh terms in the coming months.