‘Mikel Arteta said I put a knife in his back at Arsenal – I joined Chelsea months later’

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw his relationship with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta completely break down before he joined Barcelona and then Chelsea

Mikel Arteta accused former Arsenal and Chelsea star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of ‘putting a knife in his back’ before their acrimonious parting.

Aubameyang delivered controversy and goals in equal measure following his move from Borussia Dortmund to the Gunners in January 2018 for a then-club-record fee. He was one of Arsene Wenger’s final signings, with the legendary French boss stepping down the following summer.

Replacement Unai Emery was fired in November 2019, with Arteta taking his place in the Emirates dugout. And it wasn’t long before their relationship began to sour. In early 2021, the Gabon legend was dropped for a north London derby after turning up late.

This, remember, was during the Covid season when matches were played behind closed doors, so any traffic-related excuse was never going to wash. It wasn’t Aubameyang’s first or last disciplinary breach and he was eventually stripped of the captaincy.

After returning late to the club following a trip to his home in France for personal reasons, Arteta lost his cool, according to Aubameyang, who told Colinterview: “I arrive, the coach finishes his meeting and then he grabs me and he completely tears into me. He shouts at me like I’m crazy, he says, ‘You put a knife in my back. You can’t do that to me given the times we’re going through’.

“At that moment I tell myself that I’m not going to answer him because it’s going to end angrily. I didn’t go partying. He knows very well the reason for my departure, so at that moment, I don’t understand why he is lecturing me like this.

“I go home and the doctor calls me and says, ‘Tomorrow, the coach doesn’t want you to be there’. I said ‘OK’, I knew the next match was coming and I said to myself, ‘Damn once again everyone is going to talk about it, it’s going to be a mess, what is this crazy thing?’ I couldn’t understand it.”

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Aubameyang upset Arsenal again as he tried to force through a move to Barcelona, flying to Spain before a transfer had been agreed. Addressing that situation, Aubameyang explained: “Once again, [Arteta] explains why he is against me during this period when it was complicated for the club, that I have to be an example and that I couldn’t do that.

“At that moment, I said, ‘I admit that I have my share of responsibility, but the real cause, I think you can understand if you are a little bit human. You can understand my move’. After that, it was over, I stayed for a month training on my own while waiting for the break.”

Having been made to train on his own as he waited to leave the Gunners, Aubameyang said he turned to alcohol to deal with the “difficult passage” in his career. He confessed: “It affects a man, it was difficult. How to get out? Often we say that we have to talk about it, there’s no shame in that.”

After his £350,000 per week Arsenal contract was torn up 18 months early, he eventually joined Barca but his spell in Catalonia was short-lived and he was soon back in London with Chelsea.

He spent the 2022/23 season at Stamford Bridge but failed to recapture his best form from his Dortmund and Arsenal days. Now 35, he enjoyed a prolific campaign with Marseille last season, scoring 30 goals for club and country, before jumping into the Saudi Pro League money pit with Al Qadsiah.

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