Former Arsenal striker and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang recently revealed some details about his unsavory exit from the club under controversial circumstances. Speaking to The Athletic, the Gabonese striker explained what went down before Mikel Arteta had a one-on-one talk with him and axed him from the team. Aubameyang said,
“My mistake. I should have come back the night before but I arrived in the morning. I didn’t tell them that I would miss the flight because I was preoccupied with my mum’s stuff (medical examinations).”
He then spoke about how he arrived at a team meeting and was met by normalcy, followed by a sudden switch in energy from Arteta. He added,
“I went directly to a team meeting. Everything was normal. After that, he said, ‘Come with me’. This is where he started shouting. He said I could not do this because I was the captain and it was not acceptable.
“He said I gave him a knife in his back; I don’t know why he said that. I was really upset because it was not true and he knew why I flew. He knew the reason and what was happening, he knew I was struggling that year. I was expecting help from him, not killing me like this.”
The player was stripped off his captaincy at Arsenal and frozen out of the first team for a couple of months. He eventually terminated his deal with the Gunners and departed for Barcelona on a loan deal to reignite his career.
Aubameyang vows to never apologize to Arteta
Considering the nature of his exit and the precursors to how it happened, Aubameyang is rightly upset with the club and the manager he worked closely with. However, due to the circumstances at the time, the Gabonese striker has vowed to never forgive Mikel Arteta. He said,
“When I’m late, it’s my fault, no problem. I always said sorry. But in this case, I’ll never say sorry. For taking my mum from Laval to London? No. Even if I came a day late, I would never say sorry. You understand, or you don’t. If not, don’t give a day off or tell people they cannot fly.”
MUST READ: Arsenal to ‘go all-out’ for 53G/A winger who can complement Saka
Both Aubameyang and Arteta have shared their respective sides of the story, but the parting of ways seems to have benefitted both parties fairly well.
