Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been dropped from Arsenal‘s 18-man squad against Southampton due to a “disciplinary breach”.
Arsenal’s captain had been tipped to return to the starting line-up after only playing the final five minutes of Monday’s 2-1 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park.
However, he was left out of the squad entirely, with his like-for-like striker replacement Alexandre Lacazette handed the armband instead.
When asked why Aubameyang was absent, Arteta responded: “A disciplinary breach. I think we’ve been very consistent that there are non-negotiables on the team that we have set ourselves and as a club and he’s not involved today.
Related Stories
“It starts today. Certainly, it’s not an easy situation or one that we want our club captain to be in that situation.”
Aubameyang shared the Premier League golden boot with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane at the end of the 2018-19 season after scoring 22 goals, before matching his tally and scoring crucial goals during Arsenal’s FA Cup win in the 2019-20 campaign.
That form led to Aubameyang signing a lucrative three-year contract worth a reported £55m in the summer of 2020. However, since then the 32-year-old has struggled to recapture his best form, scoring only 10 times in the Premier League last season and a further four in 14 games this term.
Although Aubameyang has been ineffective recently, it was a surprise when he was omitted from Arteta’s starting XI against Everton and even more so when the Arsenal boss summoned Eddie Nketiah from the bench ahead of him as he sought a winning goal.
More from Football
After that game, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville suggested that Arteta’s decision to leave out his captain could cause a rift.
“I think there’ll be a problem with Aubameyang after this. I don’t think he’ll like the idea of Nketiah coming on or being subbed full stop,” Neville said.
“There’s always a little bit of a bug between Arteta and Aubameyang, I know he’s the captain but he leaves him out and it feels like something a bit awkward.
“It’s going to cause a problem and I bet if he could get a bit of money for him and get someone else they would. And I bet if Aubameyang could he would move on as well because it could turn a little sour.”
Arsenal team to play Southampton (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Lacazette
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3oIA3HY
Post a Comment