Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opens up on leaving Arsenal after Mikel Arteta was ‘killing me’ – as he reveals the incident that changed their relationship
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- He has spoken out about where it all went wrong for him in the Emirates
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has spoken out about his acrimonious departure from Arsenal after falling out with Mikel Arteta.
Aubameyang became a fans’ favorite at the Emirates after joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2018, and played a starring role as he led the Gunners to FA Cup glory in 2020.
He was appointed club captain and was rewarded with a lucrative new contract shortly afterwards, but his final year at the club was a disaster as his relationship with Arteta quickly deteriorated before he moved to Barcelona on a free transfer in January 2022.
The Gabonese striker has now started where things went wrong, and believes his lateness – and subsequent exclusion from the matchday squad – for a north London derby against Tottenham in March 2021 was the beginning of the end.
‘There was a (traffic) accident near my house; Maybe I should have left earlier, but you don’t know what will happen,” Aubameyang explained in an interview with The Athletics. “He was devastated because it’s a big game.
‘When we got to the hotel he called me into his room and said I wasn’t going to play. He was strict. The rules are the rules. I felt hurt. I had tears because I wanted to play that game so badly. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. The next day we had a meeting and I stood up in front of everyone to say sorry. He also came to my house to speak, because he didn’t want it to become chaos.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has opened up about his public feud with Mikel Arteta
Aubameyang’s relationship with Arteta quickly deteriorated, leading to him leaving Arsenal in 2022
Aubameyang missed the north London derby with Tottenham in March 2021 – which Arsenal won 2-1 – after arriving late, and believes this has changed his relationship with Arteta
“I said, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ But from then on it wasn’t the same anymore.’
Nine months later, Aubameyang’s timekeeping came back into focus after he arrived late in Britain following an approved trip to France to visit his ailing mother.
Aubameyang admitted he did not tell the club he was staying an extra night with his mother before returning to London, but revealed he refused to apologize on this occasion because he felt Arteta had mishandled the situation.
‘I went straight to a team meeting. Everything was normal,” Aubameyang said. ‘Then he (Arteta) said: “Come with me”. This is where he started screaming. He said I couldn’t do this because I was the captain and it wasn’t acceptable.
‘He said I gave him a knife in the back; I don’t know why he said that. I was really pissed because it wasn’t true and he knew why I was flying. He knew the reason and what happened, he knew I was having a hard time that year. I expected help from him, not for him to kill me like this.
“If I’m late, (and) it’s my fault – no problem. I always said sorry. But in this case I will never say sorry. Because I brought my mother from Laval (his birthplace in France) to London? No. Even if I was a day late, I would never say sorry. You either understand it or you don’t. If not, don’t give the day off or tell people they can’t fly.’
Aubameyang was then banned from the first team during the busy Christmas period and only returned to the squad before Arsenal decided to let him join Barcelona without a fee.
He returned to the Gunners when he signed for Chelsea in September 2022, but his time at Stamford Bridge did not go to plan and he was snapped up by Marseille after just one season.
The 35-year-old now plays in Saudi Arabia after joining Al-Qadsiah in July.
