Mikel Arteta answered to claims regarding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s departure from Arsenal to Barcelona this month.
Mikel Arteta spoke in response to claims that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Arsenal and joined Barcelona because of him.
On February 1, the Gabon star’s contract was terminated by mutual consent before he went to the Catalan capital.
The striker was excluded from Arteta’s squad due to a disciplinary breach at the start of December last year. Moreover, the 31-year-old was also signed off the duty of being Arsenal’s skipper.
Later, following his transfer to Camp Nou, fingers were pointed at the Gunners boss for ending Aubameyang’s career at Emirates Stadium.
In response to the forward’s comments regarding the saga, Arteta said: “I’m extremely grateful for what Auba has done and his contribution. The way I see myself in that relationship is the solution, not the problem.”
When pressed on Auba claiming that he was the issue, Arteta further said: “That’s his opinion. That’s what he said and you have to respect that.”
He added: “Auba’s trajectory at the club and the importance of his goals is unquestionable. But we have other players. And we believe we have other qualities in different ways to try to accomplish the amount of goals that we need in the team. That’s what we are going to try to do.”
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