Emmanuel Petit believes Mikel Arteta made the right decision by offloading Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on deadline day.
Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has backed Mikel Arteta’s decision to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang join Barcelona on deadline day.
The 32-year-old made the transfer to the Catalan giants on a free after his contract was terminated by the Gunners.
Aubameyang had not played for Arsenal since the 2-1 loss to Everton on December 6 and found himself stripped of his captaincy following a disciplinary breach.
And Petit is confident Arteta made the right call to offload the striker.
“Mikel Arteta did exactly what everyone expected with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” Petit told Gambling.com.
“I don’t want to show disrespect for Aubameyang, because I believe he is a great player. But, for the last few months he hasn’t been himself.
“Something has changed in his mind. I don’t know if it’s related to the club, the manager or the way he is living in his private life. But we were not seeing the same Aubameyang that we saw a couple of years ago.”
“I believe Arteta made the right decision on Aubameyang and he made his mark in the dressing room with the choice he made,” he added.
“To leave your captain out of a game and then put him on the transfer market is a very strong message to your dressing room.”
Petit also added that the Gabon international had “not been the same” since signing a three-year contract worth £350,000-per-week in September 2020.
“As the top earner at the club, like Aubameyang was, you have a reasonability to your team-mates and you need to show that on the pitch,” the Frenchman explained.
“Aubameyang needs to understand that you have to show a high level week-after-week and the fact he signed a new contract for big, big money may not be related to his current issue, but I will say the coincidence is huge.
“Straight after he signed that contact, he wasn’t the same player anymore.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if his future was with Arsenal or somewhere else, he needs to understand he has to go back to the player he was, with the same motivation and mentality that he had. Money is huge, but he has to get his anger back!”
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