Soccer-Arsenal's Aubameyang must join more ambitious club - Gabon FA chief

Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should move to a more ambitious club if he wants to win trophies, according to Gabon football association president Pierre Alain Mounguengui. Aubameyang joined Arsenal in January 2018 for about 56 million pounds ($69.4 million) and has since scored 61 goals in all competitions. He was the league's top scorer last season with 22 strikes and has 17 league goals in the current campaign.

The 30-year-old Gabon international's contract with the Premier League club expires at the end of next season. "I don't want to say that Arsenal isn't ambitious, but Arsenal don't have ambitions as high as some other clubs as far as Europe is concerned," Mounguengui told ESPN.

"So if Pierre could secure a contract with a more ambitious club, he'd definitely find his place there. "On an individual level, we all consider him to be among the best players in the world, but the advice I give to him is to continue to work and to attract the attention of the biggest clubs and the most ambitious clubs."

Arsenal was ninth in the standings before the coronavirus pandemic suspended the football season in England. The north London club has not qualified for the Champions League since 2015-16 and has lost two finals since Aubameyang's arrival -- the League Cup in 2018 and the Europa League last season.

"Aubameyang is a world-class player but for him, or anyone else in Europe who hasn't won a major honor, football is a collective sport," Mounguengui added. "Right now, he's at Arsenal and he's won nothing here. So it's a collective failing."

($1 = 0.8073 pounds)