The FA Cup and the future on a knife edge

In tomorrow’s FA Cup final, one club has more at stake than the other.

Chelsea come to the match with Champions League qualification in the bag. A trophy would make this a massively successful debut season for Lampard, who also goes into next season with huge investment into his squad.

Arsenal come to fight for a trophy, yes. But they also fight for a Europa League place that carries with it more weight than normal.

On top of the extra revenue it would bring, which has increased significance amidst the pandemic, European football potentially gives the club the allure to attract high-quality players essential to Arteta’s project and maybe most importantly of all, to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

In his prime and with one year left on his deal, the prolific talisman has options. I get the impression that he loves playing for Arteta but I don’t think Arsenal fans (of which I am one) could begrudge him moving for top level competition at his age.

Especially given that he has never won a league or European trophy.

Yes, you read that right.

I assumed he must have won a league at Dortmund. Not so.

He has won domestic cups but never anything more grand.

For one of the most lethal strikers in world football, that doesn’t seem befitting of his talents.

I’m sure Arsenal have tabled him a lucrative new deal. After all, they have paid a lot more for a lot less. But even with big money on the table, at least a year without European football and what that would mean to the progress of the team within that period points strongly towards the door.

What would you do if you were him?

Imagine you love where you work and where you live. Your employers are offering you a large pay rise. But that you are a consummate competitor who has dreamed of lifting the biggest trophies. You’ve worked tirelessly for most of your life to become one of the best. You’ve succeeded in doing that, but you play in a team sport. The team you belong to matters.

Teams further up the ladder, closer to silverware want you. They’d pay you handsomely too. Maybe you’d train in better weather year round. And play with some of the very best.

What would you do?

It’s looking at these player decisions as if through their eyes that fascinates me. That’s part of why I wrote my book.

Arsenal’s and Aubameyang’s futures balance delicately on a knife-edge tomorrow.

Which way will they cut?

Arton James