Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has criticized Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for what he describes as a lack of humanity.
The former Dortmund striker left Arsenal to join FC Barcelona in a permanent move on the final day of the January 2022 transfer window.
Aubameyang, who was the team captain when Arteta arrived, held the position for two years.
However, a dispute over his late return to training resulted in him being stripped of the captaincy and excluded from the squad.
This situation culminated in Aubameyang joining Barcelona on a free transfer on the final day of the January transfer window.
Aubameyang 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 the country, tell us before the match because you have to follow the health safety rules’.
“My mother, a few months before, had a stroke, it was going to be Christmas time so I went to see the coach and I said to him:
‘Coach, I’m coming to see you because I’d like to leave [for the day off], I’m going to go pick up my mother to bring her back for the holidays’.
He tells me no problem. He knew very well what had happened, the day it happened he had already given me permission to go see her.
So he gives me authorisation and tells me to check with the doctor about the return in relation to Covid.
“I’m going home to Laval, normally I would leave on the day off and return in the evening rather than the morning of training.
My mother had medical tests 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 [Covid] test but in fact I should have done it the day before since I was coming from another country.
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“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 okay, I knew the next match was coming and I said to myself: ‘Damn, once again everyone is going to talk about me, it’s going to be a mess, this is crazy’. I couldn’t understand it.
“The days pass and the doctor tells me: ‘Look, he doesn’t want you to be with the group anymore, but you will be able to come and train but separately’.
I say to myself okay… And then afterwards, he calls me and we have a meeting so he can explain to me that firstly, he’s taking away the captain’s armband, and secondly, I’m no longer training 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, I stayed for a month training on my own while waiting for the move away.”
Aubamenyang signed for the Gunners for a transfer fee of £56 million from Borussia Dortmund.
On February 3, 2018, Aubameyang made his debut for Arsenal in a Premier League clash against Everton.
He went on to represent Arsenal in 165 matches where he scored 92 goals and provided 21 assists. He won a FA Cup title and a Community Shield in 2020.
