Aaron Ramsdale is "lying" when he says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wasn't mentioned by the Arsenal squad in their pre-match talk before the 1-0 win away at Chelsea according to Rio Ferdinand.
The Gunners toppled their London rivals to mark a memorable and rare away victory at the home of a fellow big-six side, with Gabriel Magalhaes the match-winner with his close-range finish after Bukayo Saka's corner evaded everyone in the area before falling to the Brazilian.
The result ensures Arsenal return to the top of the Premier League as their sensational start to the league season continues, but all the talk before the game was centred around one man. Aubameyang only made his Emirates exit in January, fleeing to Barcelona after being exiled by Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.
He lasted just half a season at Camp Nou before returning to London, this time in the blue of Chelsea following the deadline day move to Stamford Bridge.
Sunday's clash marked the first time the Gabon international has come up against his former Arsenal teammates, who according to Ramsdale, hadn't given the reunion much thought.
Before the kick, the Gunners goalkeeper told BT Sport: "No, I don't think he's been mentioned.
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"We know who he plays for and what happened. For 90-95 minutes, he's nobody's friend. After that, we'll shake his hand and see how he is, but for now, he plays for Chelsea and we play for Arsenal."
The comments didn't seem to wash with Ferdinand, who responded openly accusing the shot-stopper of a mistruth by saying: "He's lying, Aubameyang definitely would have been spoken about in the dressing room before this game."
Ramsdale's comments seemed to ring true when analysing the way the Arsenal players interacted with their former talisman. Prior to kick-off, Granit Xhaka was the only Gunners star to embrace Aubameyang, with everyone else opting for a rather frosty handshake.
Aubameyang failed to make any kind of meaningful impact against his old side, having just eight touches before he was hauled off shortly after the hour mark.
Blues boss Graham Potter was asked whether Aubameyang's poor performance was down to his own shortcomings or the lack of service, but he replied: "I wouldn't say that, it's part of the team. We didn't function as fluidity as we'd have liked.
"They come in a good moment, good structure and Mikel [Arteta] has done a good job. What's important, we understand where we're at."
Victory at Stamford Bridge ensures Arsenal's advantage over Chelsea was extended to 13 points.
