Mikel Arteta Provides Update on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's Arsenal Future

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is on the verge of signing a new contract with the club.

31-year-old Aubameyang has one year left on his current deal at the Emirates and following plenty of speculation regarding his future, it appears that Arteta has convinced the Gabonese striker to commit himself to the club for a fresh three-year deal worth £250,000-a-week.

Aubameyang is central to Arteta's plans of a rebuild at Arsenal. The former Borussia Dortmund hitman scored 22 times in 36 Premier League appearances last time out - where he was often deployed as an inside forward following Arteta's December arrival - and bagged a brace in the FA Cup final victory over Chelsea earlier this month.

The Spaniard, meanwhile, is confident a deal will be struck soon: “I keep being positive, we have some really good talks with him and his agent. I am pretty confident we’re going to find an agreement soon. That’s my feeling again.

"I think he should be very happy if he is able to stay at the club for a long time," the Spanish boss added ahead of his side's Community Shield clash with Liverpool on Saturday (via The Mirror).

“I think people will be delighted with that news.”

Aubameyang's seemingly inevitable extension adds to what's been an impressive summer for the Gunners thus far.

After signing Chelsea's Willian on a free transfer, the club are poised to announce the arrival of Lille defender Gabriel Magalhães this week in a reported £27m deal.

“He’s a player we followed and were very determined that he was the right profile for s to improve our squad and if we are able to finalise it we will be delighted," added Arteta regarding the potential signing of the Brazilian.

"We are trying to finalise the deal, that’s what I can tell you at the moment."