Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta thinks captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been “convinced to stay here for longer” after his starring role in the Community Shield win over Liverpool.
Forward Aubameyang, whose Gunners contract expires next summer, curled in a fantastic opener – before Takumi Minamino’s equaliser – and then scored the winning penalty in the shootout at Wembley on Saturday.
“It’s an exciting time to be an Arsenal player,” said the 31-year-old Gabon international.
The FA Cup winners have been trying to tie Aubameyang down to a new contract for some time.
He has scored 70 goals in 109 games since joining Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for a club record £56m in January 2018.
Aubameyang was made captain in November after midfielder Granit Xhaka was stripped of the armband by Arteta’s predecessor Unai Emery.
“My job is to try to convince him he’s at the right place at the right time,” Arteta.
“I think we got that and then we have to make the paperwork and that takes a bit of time.”
Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties
Aubameyang’s excellent 20-yard strike on Saturday made him only the second Gunners player to score five Wembley goals, after Alexis Sanchez.
