Retuning back to EMIRATE is not an issue because that has always been my club but I need ASSURANCE that this particular player will drop that JERSEY NUMBER for me before I will join”, Aubameyang reveals the only Condition that Could make Him return back to the club by January
Retuning back to EMIRATE is not an issue because that has always been my club but I need ASSURANCE that this particular player will drop that JERSEY NUMBER for me before I will join”, Aubameyang reveals the only Condition that Could make Him return back to the club by January
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has opened up on his final days at Arsenal and the Mikel Arteta fallout that led to his departure.
Arsene Wenger brought Aubameyang to the Emirates Stadium in January 2018 for a then-club-record fee. Successor Arteta initially enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the Gabon captain when he took over at the Gunners’ helm 18 months later – but the relationship eventually turned sour
Following Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph of 2020 – in which Aubameyang was an instrumental figure – the veteran striker hit a rough patch of form. It was in early 2021 that he was dropped for a north London derby after getting caught in traffic en route to the game, and then Aubameyang’s mother fell ill, forcing him to take time away from the club.
However, Arteta grew increasingly frustrated with his star – who scored 92 goals in 163 appearances for Arsenal – when he returned from his home in Laval, France, later than expected. Arriving on a training day, Covid protocols meant he was delayed further in getting back, at which point Arteta vented his frustrations.
Aubameyang told Colinterview: “I arrive, the coach finishes his meeting and then he grabs me and he completely tears into me, he shouts at me like I’m crazy, he says: ‘You put a knife in my back. You can’t do that to me given the times we’re going through’.
“At that moment I tell myself that I’m not going to answer him because it’s going to end angrily. I didn’t go partying. He knows very well the reason for my departure, so at that moment, I don’t understand why he is lecturing me like this.
“I go home and the doctor calls me and says, ‘Tomorrow, the coach doesn’t want you to be there.’ I said ‘OK’, I knew the next match was coming and I said to myself, ‘Damn once again everyone is going to talk about it, it’s going to be a mess, what is this crazy thing?’ I couldn’t understand it.”
The £350,000-a-week forward was soon stripped of the captaincy and made to train separately from the rest of the squad. Aubameyang had one last conversation with Arteta before his parting insult of flying to Barcelona before a transfer had even been agreed in an attempt to force his exit in January 2022.
The 34-year-old continued: “Once again, [Arteta] explains why he is against me during this period when it was complicated for the club. That I have to be an example and that I couldn’t do that. At that moment, I said, ‘I admit that I have my share of responsibility, but the real cause I think you can understand if you are a little bit human. You can understand my move.’ After that, it was over, I stayed for a month training on my own while waiting for the break.”
It was around this time that Aubameyang turned to alcohol in an attempt to deal with the depression caused by such a “difficult passage” in his career. He confessed: “It affects a man, it was difficult. How to get out? Often we say that we have to talk about it, there’s no shame in that.”
His strategy of travelling to Catalonia paid dividends as his eye-watering contract in north London – which wasn’t due to expire until 2023 – was torn up 18 months early. Aubameyang scored 13 goals in 23 appearances for Barca before making a swift return to London that summer, though his single season at Chelsea proved paltry by comparison.
Things have ultimately worked out best for all parties, with Aubameyang rediscovering his best form in a senior role at Marseille while Arsenal have become title contenders under Arteta. However, those final days together were anything but harmonious as a once-glittering relationship between the pair turned dark.
