Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette has spoken out about how he ‘didn’t like’ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before he became his teammate in 2018.
Aubameyang left the Gunners in the January transfer window after disciplinary issues led to manager Mikel Arteta freezing the Gabonese forward out of the first team and stripping him of the club captaincy. The former Borussia Dortmund star then joined Barcelona on a free transfer, and he has hit the ground running in the La Liga.
Questions have, understandably, been raised about what has gone on behind the scenes to cause Arteta and Aubameyang’s relationship to shatter and the events that could have led to that point. But Lacazette has tried to offer an insight into what it was like working with the 32-year-old, though he did admit that he wasn’t always a fan of the now-Barca star, having spent three seasons as his strike partner at the Emirates Stadium.
Speaking to Canal+, the French striker explained: “I had some misconceptions about him. Before he arrived, I didn’t like him. To be honest, I’m not mates with the Aubemayang you see on Instagram. I’m mates with Pierre-Emerick. People don’t know Pierre-Emerick. They know Aubameyang.”
Lacazette’s initial viewpoint on Aubameyang – presumably deprived by the picture he paints of himself on social media – says a lot about the stark contrast between what the striker portrays himself as compared to his actual personality. However, it also hints at the traditionalist mindset of Lacazette.
On the change of mindset in football: “Social media, statistics, for me that’s not football. Football is the guys on the pitch and their passion. When I was younger I started to believe in it, but then in growing up, I saw that it’s not the most important for me to score loads and loads of goals every season because at Lyon I scored plenty of goals but at the end of the day I won very few trophies. I would have preferred to score five goals and win a trophy each season.”
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Lacazette is out of contract at the end of the season, as well as Eddie Nketiah, meaning that Arteta will be in desperate need of a striker when the summer transfer window opens. Given that Lacazette was trusted to lead the line for the North London outfit when Aubameyang departed, many had an inkling that a contract extension would be discussed. But Lacazette has revealed, instead, that he has spoken to prospective clubs – including former side Lyon.
“I am in discussions with a lot of clubs,” he explained, “I am open.” Asked about returning to Lyon, he replied: “I have never cut contact with Lyon since I left. I try to return to the club once or twice a year to see the medical staff because we are really close. Lyon know that I am free, they have to come with a proposal.
“I want to play in Europe, it’s been a long time since I played in the Champions League, I’m missing it. It’s a little more complicated, nothing is impossible in life, but it’s a little more complicated.”
