In an interview with The Athletic, Pierre-Emerick Aubamayang recounts in detail his clashes with his former coach Mikel Arteta, when he played at Arsenal. The 35-year-old Gabonese striker, now in Saudi Arabia, has painful memories of his conflicts with the man who is still on the Gunners bench.
A tumultuous relationship, even downright stormy at times. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang clashed several times with his former coach Mikel Arteta when he played at Arsenal. This is what the 35-year-old striker, who signed last summer for Al-Qadsiah (Saudi Arabia) after the end of his adventure at OM, says in an interview with The Athletic. The ex-Gunners center forward, recruited in 2018 from Dortmund for 64 million euros, returns in particular to a clash dating from 2021.
Aubameyang then returned late from a trip during which he went to pick up his sick mother in Mayenne, where he is from. His return trip had been validated by the London club, but Arteta had clearly not appreciated it. And the Spanish coach made it clear to the native of Laval.
“He knew I was in trouble.”
“It was me who made a mistake. I should have come back the evening before, but I arrived in the morning,” says the Gabonese international. “I didn't say I was going to miss the plane because I was concerned about my mother's situation. I went straight to a team meeting. Everything was normal. After that, he (Arteta) said, 'Come with me.' That's when he started yelling. He said I couldn't do that because I was the captain and that wasn't acceptable. that I had stuck a knife in his back. don't know why he said that. I was really upset because it wasn't true and he knew why I got on the plane. He knew the reason and what was happening, he knew I was. in difficulty that year. I expected help from him, not that he would kill me like that (…) When I'm late, it's my fault, no problem. I always apologized. .But in this case, I will never apologize. took my mother from Laval to London?
“I felt hurt.”
During the same year, PEA showed up late to catch the bus before a derby against Tottenham in the Premier League. The striker explained that he had been slowed down on the road by an accident, but his justifications did not lessen Mikel Arteta's anger.
“When we arrived at the hotel, he called me to his room and told me I wouldn't play. He was strict. Rules are rules,” Aubameyang recalled. “I felt hurt. I had tears in my eyes because I really wanted to play. I didn't want to hurt anyone. The next day we had a meeting and I stood up in front of everyone to apologize. He also came to my house to talk, because he didn't want it to be chaos. I said to myself, 'Everything will be fine' But from then on it wasn't the same.” The 1.87m right-hander finally left Arsenal a few months later, in January 2022, after scoring 92 goals and providing 20 assists in 163 appearances (all competitions).
