After signing a new deal, might Mo Salah be the next Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, David De Gea or… Jon Flanagan?
Liverpool have relented, making Salah their highest-paid player ever. It wasn’t a tactic that worked for Arsenal or West Ham…
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
The Arsenal captain entered the final year of his contract at the Emirates in 2020, sparking speculation he would be on his way before the Gunners lost another key player for nothing. To avoid that prospect, Arsenal made Aubameyang their highest-paid player ever by putting in front of him a three-year contract worth around £350,000.
“Signing for this special club was never in doubt,” said the then-31-year-old. Like f*** it was.
What made Arsenal feel obliged to break the bank for the veteran? In his first full season he shared the Golden Boot after bagging 22 Premier League goals. The following campaign, he netted 29 in 44 games across all competitions, including a match-winning brace in the FA Cup final.
That gave Aubameyang a very strong negotiating position, but once the ink was dry on his new contract, the goals dried up too. He scored only 14 in 2020-21 and the first half of last season, a period more notable for disciplinary concerns that led to him being stripped of the captaincy and then left out altogether.
Halfway through his contract, Arsenal and Auba agreed to tear it up, at some considerable expense to the Gunners, but not as much as it would have cost them to see out the ex-skipper’s deal. As a free-agent, he hopped on a flight and Barcelona picked him up.
David De Gea
The Manchester United goalkeeper signed a similar-sized deal to Aubameyang’s but the Red Devils committed to at least four years, with the option of a fifth, when they made the Spaniard their second-highest-paid star in September 2019.
United, who blew their bargaining position by dropping to their knees for Alexis Sanchez 18 months prior, coughed up to avoid the prospect of De Gea being gobbled up as a free-agent by PSG or Real Madrid.
De Gea wasn’t in vintage form immediately before putting his scribble on his new deal but he had plenty of credit in the bank after six stellar years prior to that wobble. It was hoped the stability of his contract would allow him to flourish once more.
That proved not to be the case. De Gea’s wobbles continued through the 2019/20 season, which was arguably his poorest in the United’s sticks since his torrid maiden season in 2012/13. It left the best-paid…
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