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‘Aubameyang still below par for Arsenal’ – Smith sees misfiring striker searching for a spark

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang “still seems a little below par” for Arsenal, admits Alan Smith, with a talismanic presence at Emirates Stadium registering just six goals this season.

Only three of those have come in the Premier League, with a once prolific frontman finding himself stuck in a serious rut.

The 31-year-old’s standards have dropped off since he signed a lucrative new contract in north London, with it suggested that he may have lost some of his drive.

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Smith is not buying that, with Aubameyang as important to Mikel Arteta’s cause as he has always been, but he concedes that the Gabonese has looked a shadow of his former self.