The £26m Barcelona transfer that is great news for Arsenal

Arsenal made one deadline day signing in bringing in Cedric Soares on loan from Southampton but another piece of good news will be that one key player will not be leavinng.

There have been plenty of transfer links around Arsenal Football Club in January.

And that has not just been regarding incoming players.

A number of current Arsenal first team stars have been linked with a move away from the Emirates - namely Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos.

Of those three, the Arsenal fans would have been loathe to see striker Aubameyang leave the club over all others.

The Gabonese frontman is the club's captain and their top scorer.

However, he is coming to the end of his contract at the Emirates, with his current deal due to expire at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

Arteta explains why Arsenal signed Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari,

And there has been no indication of a breakthrough in talks between the player and the club over an extension.

Aubameyang has been the subject of interest from Barcelona during the January transfer window, with reports that the Catalan club were read to test Arsenal's resolve with an audacious bid for him.

The Gunners have stood firm, however, and it looks as though they will maintain the services of the striker for the foreseeable future, with Barca's interest now waning.

That is because Quique Setien's side have signed another frontman this January - Francisco Trincao.

Barcelona shelled out £26million on Trincao, who arrived from Braga, with the striker putting pen-to-paper on a five-year contract at the Camp Nou.

Not only that, but Barca have inserted an astronomical £421million release clause into the 20-year-old's contract, according to reports.

The Portugal U21 forward has scored three goals and provided six assists in 22 senior appearances this season will join up with his new team-mates at the end of the season.

And that should bring to an end speculation of Aubameyang leaving the Emirates for the Camp Nou.

Source: www.football.london