Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s final insult to Arsenal and Mikel Arteta’s perfect response

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Arsenal just 16 months after signing a mega three-year deal at the Emirates, which was meant to keep him at the club until 2023

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This time last year Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completed a dramatic deadline day move from Arsenal to Barcelona.

The Gabon international was allowed to leave the Gunners for free, joining the LaLiga giants just a year and four months after he put pen to paper on a mega £350,000-a-week deal at Arsenal, which was meant to keep him at the Emirates club for three seasons.

At the time, Aubameyang, who is now at Chelsea, was the main man leading Arsenal’s attack and it was Arteta who actually championed and pushed hard to get the striker tied down at the club until 2023.

But problems immediately started to emerge and the issues were first made public in March 2021 when Arteta dropped Aubameyang for the North London Derby, citing “disciplinary reasons”.

Aubameyang had got caught in traffic on his way to the game, but it wasn’t the first time the striker reported late to work.

The same row flared up again when Arteta was forced to drop Aubameyang in December 2021. The forward reported back to Arsenal late after he was given permission to fly to France to tend to his ill mum.

The final insult for Arteta came when Aubameyang took it upon himself to fly to Barcelona before either the Catalan club or Arsenal had agreed that a transfer would materialise.

Aubameyang’s plan was to push through a move to the Camp Nou, which he was successful in doing, but his arrival in Barcelona surprised even the LaLiga club.

Mikel Arteta clashed with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Arsenal (

Image:

PA)

Arteta received criticism in the weeks and months following Aubameyang’s departure as Arsenal parted company with a forward without bringing in a replacement.

Gunners fan Piers Morgan told TalkSPORT at the time: “I watched the whole Amazon documentary [All or Nothing: Arsenal] and I am still not convinced about the whole Aubameyang thing. The idea that it has been good for Arsenal… that we send him for nothing to Barcelona, and he bangs in goals for fun at one of the biggest teams in the world.

“Then a few months later he signs for Chelsea for £12m plus a top player [Marcos Alonso]… we get none of that. Now he will lead the line for Chelsea. The fact he has gone back to work with Thomas Tuchel, confirms to me that Mikel Arteta is a rookie manager and did not know how to manage proper world-class talent.”

Arteta kept his cards close to his chest and in the summer responded in the perfect way by splashing the cash on Gabriel Jesus to lead the line for Arsenal this season.

The decision paid dividends, with the Brazilian quickly proving to be one of the signings of the season, helping Arsenal claim the Premier League’s top spot before picking up an injury.

Despite this setback, Arteta and the Gunners have continued to answer their critics and are currently five points clear of champions Manchester City at the top of the table – and favourites for the title.