Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has lifted the lid on his fallout with Mikel Arteta and revealed the Arsenal manager said he had stabbed him in the back. Aubameyang and Arteta fell out during the 2021-22 season, with the forward stripped of the Arsenal captaincy and allowed to join Barcelona on a free transfer.
The pair clashed in December 2021 when Aubameyang returned late from a sanctioned trip to his unwell mother in France. The situation was complicated by the fact Arsenal, and other clubs, were operating at a time of the Covid-19 pandemic and that made travel difficult.
“My mistake,” Aubameyang told the Athletic. “I should have come back the night before, but I arrived in the morning. I didn’t tell them that I would miss the flight because I was preoccupied with my mum’s stuff (medical examinations). “I went directly to a team meeting. Everything was normal. After that, he (Arteta) said: ‘Come with me’. This is where he started shouting. He said I could not do this because I was the captain and it was not acceptable.
“He said I gave him a knife in his back; I don’t know why he said that. I was really p**sed off because it was not true and he knew why I flew. “He knew the reason and what was happening, he knew I was struggling that year. I was expecting help from him, not killing me like this.
“When I’m late, (and) it’s my fault — no problem. I always said sorry. But in this case, I’ll never say sorry. “For taking my mum from Laval to London? No. Even if I came a day late, I would never say sorry. You understand or you don’t. If not, don’t give a day off or tell people they cannot fly.”.
