Former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has now opened up about his fallout with Mikel Arteta before he left the club.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Arsenal career came to an unceremonious end in 2022.
Having initially arrived at the Emirates Stadium in a £56 million switch from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018, the forward went on to score 92 goals in 163 games for the Gunners, across all competitions.
The 34-year-old was a key figure for Arsenal as they won the FA Cup in 2020. He scored a brace against Chelsea in the final, as the Gunners lifted the trophy with Mikel Arteta having been at the helm for just a matter of months.
Aubameyang was included in Arteta’s first Arsenal starting XI, and was an important fixture in the side in the Spanish coach’s early days in the dugout.
Ultimately, though, the relationship between the pair was to sour and then breakdown entirely.
Issues behind the scenes at the Emirates Stadium prompted Arteta to cut Aubameyang from the first-team picture. The Gabonese striker was exiled to train with the reserves and was stripped of the captaincy, just a few weeks before his contract was cancelled and he left the club by mutual consent.
The club backed the manager’s decision to cut ties with Aubameyang. Arsenal icon Arsene Wenger also expressed his support for Arteta’s decision.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang explains rift with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
Now, Aubameyang has shared his side of the story. Speaking to Colinterview, the 75-cap former Gabon international said: “It was during the COVID period and we were playing, I think, Everton. My season wasn’t great, we were struggling in the league and the day before the coach told us: ‘Look, it doesn’t matter if we win or not, you have a day off. But if you want to leave, you notify yourself before the match because you have to follow the health safety rules.’”
Aubameyang then left North London to visit his mother, who had recently suffered a stroke. Arteta had no issue with the player leaving to attend to his mother, on the condition that he: “check with the doc about the return in relation to Covid.”
Whilst he was away: “My mother had exams to do, I couldn’t leave in the evening so I left the next morning on training day. Once I got there, I had to take my test but in fact I should have done it the day before since I was coming from another country.”
Aubameyang subsequently returned to Arsenal later than agreed, which sparked the manager’s ire: “He completely tears me up, 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.’”
How Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s time at Arsenal came to an end
At this point, Arteta ordered Aubameyang to train separately from the first team group.
The Marseille striker explained: “he calls me and we have a meeting so he can explain to me that one, he’s taking away the captain’s armband, and two, I’m training more with the group. Once again, he 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.”