There was a time when Mikel Arteta counted on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Arsenal could not countenance life without his goals. Aubameyang was their main man, their hero when they beat Chelsea in the 2020 FA Cup final, and Arsenal saw it as a coup when the striker signed a lucrative long-term deal later that year.
Arteta and Aubameyang: it just made sense. Only, not for long. The good days sped by, the goals dried up and the relationship deteriorated. Determined to improve Arsenal’s culture, Arteta railed against Aubameyang’s shoddy timekeeping. The Spaniard wanted an impressionable young squad to maintain high standards and, armed with a list of Aubameyang’s apparent misdemeanours, he took the ruthless decision to strip his biggest earner of the captaincy and exile him from the first team last season.
