Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has admitted he had problems with Mikel Arteta during his final days as an Arsenal player.
Speaking in a live press conference for new side Barcelona, the Gabon international said: “My last few months at Arsenal were complicated, that’s football sometimes. For my part, I never wanted to do anything wrong.
“My problem was only with Arteta. I can’t say much more, I wasn’t happy.”
Aubameyang joined Barcelona on transfer deadline day and the 32-year-old claimed that the former Manchester City assistant coach was far from impressed with his actions.
He continued: “It was just him and he made that decision. He wasn’t happy, I can’t tell you more. He wasn’t very happy, I was very calm.”
The former Borussia Dortmund star was stripped of the club’s captaincy duties following a disciplinary breach back in December and was subsequently exiled from the rest of the first-team squad, training alone at the club’s London Colney training base.
brettbarley.com revealed over the festive period that the Gunners were open to offers for the veteran centre-forward before Saudi side Al-Nassr tried to tempt him away from the Emirates Stadium but the player rejected their approaches as he wanted to stay in Europe.
Eventually, Aubameyang left the club by mutual consent on deadline day before joining La Liga giants Barcelona until the summer of 2025, although the deal does have a break clause that can be agreed upon after 18 months.
The former Arsenal captain enjoyed an extremely productive time in north London, netting 92 goals and providing a further 21 assists in just 163 games, clinching a brace in the semi-final and final of the 2020 FA Cup, which the Gunners won.
