It's just over a month ago that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was captain of Arsenal and seemed set to see out the remaining 18 months on his contract in north London, but things can change very quickly in football.
The 32-year-old was relieved of his role as Gunners skipper after what had been described as his latest "disciplinary breach" in the week prior to the Premier League clash against Southampton.
With this not being the first time the Gabon international had been sanctioned for disciplinary problems there was some hope that he could be welcomed back into the group, but these appeared to be quashed when he was made to train on his own away from the rest of the group.
With this in mind Mikel Arteta and Edu began searching for a solution to the issue over their former captain, and it appears that they may have been offered one.
football.london understands that Arsenal have received an offer from Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr to take Aubameyang on loan until the end of the season with an obligation to buy for around £8 million.
The Gunners are yet to respond to the offer - which is currently the only one on the table - at time of writing though and football.london understands that Newcastle still retain an interest in the 32-year-old despite having already signed Chris Wood from Burnley earlier this month.
Decisions on Aubameyang's future have been delayed somewhat amid a testing few weeks for the former Borussia Dortmund forward.
After being given special dispensation to join up with Gabon for this month's AFCON ahead of fellow teammates Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny and Nicolas Pepe, the 32-year-old contracted COVID-19 for the second time in midst of his country's preparations for the tournament.
The Gabonese FA subsequently released a statement claiming that the striker was suffering with heart problems in the aftermath of his diagnosis, although Arsenal contested this, claiming the player was fine and that they had been in communication with him about his health.
Aubameyang was then sent back to London without having played a single game in the competition earlier this week, sparking a series of sensationalistic rumours about the reason for his premature departure that he immediately took to social media to address.
"We have problems that are already complicated to solve, then on top of that there are rumours," the 32-year-old said on Twitter.
"In short, we have health to take care of first and foremost, I won't go back on these false rumours and I sincerely hope that our team will go as far as possible."
Upon arrival in the UK, Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal had sent Aubameyang to see a medical specialist in order to undergo examinations on his heart, amid a lack of clarity from The Panthers over the reason for sending him home from their camp.
"Yeah, he’s in London and going through some examinations because we haven’t had any clarity from the Gabon national team about the reasons why he came back," the Spanaird said in his press conference ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool.
"So, obviously, it’s our obligation to make sure he’s safe and in good condition and not any issues related to that and try to avoid any suggestion that that’s the case because so far historically with everything we’ve done with the player he’s never had an issue. So hopefully that’s the case."
The player has since taken to Instagram to confirm that the tests went well and that his "heart is absolutely fine," and that he has already resumed training at home.
football.london understands that Aubameyang's situation is not related to Arsenal's pursuit of a striker this January.
With Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette's contracts set to expire in the summer, and Flo Balogun having joined Middlesbrough until the end of the season, the Gunners are thought to have been on the look out for a centre forward regardless.
They are continuing to push to sign Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina, although complications with the 21-year-old's agent remain a stumbling block.
Meanwhile Edu is understood to have held meetings with Lille striker Jonathan David's agent last month, while Alexander Isak of Real Sociedad is still a player of interest.
