Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has blasted the club and Mikel Arteta for allowing striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to join Barcelona on a free transfer.
The outspoken Morgan took to social media to criticise the “terrible” decision after the Gabonese striker netted a brace in the Blaugrana’s 4-1 victory at Valencia on Sunday.
Aubameyang, who joined from Arsenal for free on 2 February, was making his first start in La Liga having also been included in the starting line-up for the first time for the Europa League first leg draw against Napoli on Thursday evening.
While the 32-year-old was not involved in the goalmouth action on his first start for the club, he was deadly in front of goal at the Mestalla as he spearheaded Xavi Hernandez’s side to an impressive win.
Aubameyang slammed in the opener from Jordi Alba's assist in the 23 rd minute and converted home another 15 minutes later, surviving narrowly from an offside check by VAR.
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Frenkie de Jong had netted a goal in between that in a devastating spell for the visitors, and while Carlos Soler pulled a goal back for Barca after the break – a stunning strike from Pedri settled the tie for the visitors.
But the story of the game was all about Aubameyang, who had initially struggled to make an impact in his brief substitute appearances against Atletico Madrid and Espanyol.
Sunday’s match at the Mestalla was the first league match that Aubameyang had started since Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat at Manchester United on 2 December.
Aubameyang moved to the Camp Nou on an 18-month contract after the Gunners waived any transfer fee in order to make the move permanent.
The experienced striker had not been involved in the 10 matchday squads for the Gunners before his exit after a high-profile falling out with boss Arteta, whom Morgan is a vocal critic of.
Aubameyang was ostracised by Arteta who instructed the club to offload the player this month as he continued to trim the first-team squad, with the player already stripped of the captaincy.
After the Spanish boss made that decision, Morgan blasted him on Twitter : "Shameful decision by Arteta. What a disgusting way to treat a man who went - with the club’s full knowledge & permission - to help his sick mother."
Morgan took to Twitter again to outline his frustration at the end of the January transfer window: "This is a terrible transfer window for Arsenal.
"One goal in the whole of January and we sell our best striker for NOTHING with no replacement. Madness."
Arsenal were keen to facilitate Aubameyang’s permanent exit this month and waive a transfer fee due to the significant savings they will make on Aubameyang’s salary.
Morgan once again voiced his displeasure with Arsenal’s decision after the striker bagged his brace for Barca against Valencia.
“Thrilled for @Auba,” Morgan wrote on Twitter, before fuming: “Furious with @m8arteta for giving him away to do this elsewhere. What a terrible, TERRIBLE decision.”
Morgan’s admiration of Aubameyang is no secret, as he described the player as "one of the best strikers Arsenal has ever had" in a recent Sun column.
He wrote: “Mikel Arteta has taken weird pleasure in publicly humiliating our best, and best-paid, player, behaving like a particularly smug and intransigent disciplinarian headmaster punishing a naughty schoolboy for reasons that have never been fully explained - but at what benefit to the team?”
Barca’s victory on Sunday was an important one as it lifted them back into the top four in La Liga as they remain on course to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
