Despite being the captain of Arsenal and leading the team to FA Cup victory in 2020, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang faced a tumultuous start to 2021. He was dropped early in the year after arriving late due to traffic before a north London derby and missed several games while caring for his ill mother.

Arteta’s tolerance for Aubameyang’s repeated disciplinary issues wore thin, especially when the striker returned late from a family visit to France, disrupting training and clashing with Covid protocols. This incident was the tipping point for Arteta, leading to a heated confrontation.

In an interview with Colinterview, Aubameyang recounted how his relationship with Arteta deteriorated: “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.”

Aubameyang, who was on a £350,000-a-week contract, explained his eventual departure to Barcelona in January 2022: “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.”

Although Chelsea brought Aubameyang back to English football in summer 2022, he has since moved to Marseille. Meanwhile, Arsenal continues to search for a prolific scorer to bolster their Premier League title aspirations after narrowly missing out in recent seasons.