“Arsenal, nothing personal,” said Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in a message that quite beautifully made Sunday’s London derby all about the opposite. It was a pot that did not require stirring, but the line from Aubameyang playing in TV promotions this week has succeeded in stoking the flames among Arsenal fans ahead of the reunion with their former captain. “I’m back. I’m blue. I’m ready,” the Chelsea striker went on and, if you do take Aubameyang at his word that, for him, facing Arsenal isn’t personal, you can be assured his meeting with Mikel Arteta will be.
It can be hard to ignore the temptation to focus on the good, honest drama of a clash between a manager and an embittered former captain, even when Arsenal’s trip to Chelsea is also so much more. “There’s a narrative around him, I understand,” the Chelsea manager Graham Potter admitted. Resurfaced in the All or Nothing Amazon documentary, developed further in the emergence of leaked videos and fresh criticism, which in turn was met by thinly veiled digs, the fallout from the collapse of Aubameyang and Arteta’s relationship has so far been compelling ahead of its next chapter.
The fact that so much has changed since it began adds to the intrigue. As Aubameyang signed for Chelsea on deadline day and declared he had “unfinished business” in the Premier League, the idea of putting the brakes on Arsenal’s title challenge just as it was beginning to gather momentum was presumably not at the top of his mind. When he had left months earlier, he departed a side who were sixth in the table, which was their average position across his four years at the club. Yet as November rolls around, Aubameyang’s first encounter with his former side will be a test against the closest contenders for Manchester City’s crown.
Arsenal are the resurgent force, up against a work in progress in Chelsea, and an away win could signify the changing of directions in a derby where superiority has been so clearly set in recent years. Aubameyang remains the hero of Arsenal’s FA Cup victory over Chelsea in 2020 and scored 92 goals for the club, but the Gunners are a team transformed in the time between his departure and his reunion with them.
The point of inflection in their turnaround under Arteta might have come from their separation, when the relationship between manager and captain completely fell apart. Arteta lost trust in Aubameyang, to the extent that he kept a dossier of his misdemeanours. He was ruthlessly stripped of the captaincy, banished from training and Arteta backed himself despite doubts from his backroom staff when it came to ripping up Aubameyang’s contract.
It established Arteta as the leader of the dressing room, which was left “scared” of stepping out of line after what had happened to their captain, as Mohamed Elneny revealed so fascinatingly to a group of reporters this week ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. “We don’t allow big egos,” Elneny said. “This is the dressing room we have now. Everyone loves each other and everyone works for each other. This is what actually makes our squad really strong, because we don’t have egos in the team.”
The impact also became two-fold in the summer, as the gamble of allowing Aubameyang to leave also paved the way for the influential Gabriel Jesus to arrive. Although Jesus is now without a goal in eight games, the Brazilian offers so much more. He leads the press, can hold the ball with his back to goal, and his presence leading the line helps bring the elements of Arsenal’s attack together.
Jesus is, in many ways, the opposite to Aubameyang, a player who can still supply goals but often now struggles to offer much else. From an attacking perspective, Jesus had more touches in Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest than Aubameyang has managed in his last three Premier League starts combined. Jesus is also the defender from the front and, when the goals dried up for Aubameyang at Arsenal, Arteta saw the requirement for an attacker who brings value when his team is out of possession, too.
It has, though, been a whirlwind year for Aubameyang. Discarded by Arteta, brought in by Barcelona, replaced by Robert Lewandowski and taken back to the Premier League by Thomas Tuchel, only to see his former Borussia Dortmund coach sacked and replaced within days of his arrival. Under Potter, Aubameyang has scored three goals while missing plenty more chances, though he remains a striker with a sense of occasion: two of his goals have come against AC Milan in the best wins for the Chelsea manager so far. “He’s been pretty normal from what I’ve seen,” Potter said. “Quite a quiet guy. I’m sure come match day he’ll be determined.”
Yet it is difficult to see Aubameyang as Potter’s ideal striker. In the same way as Arteta came to his conclusion, Potter might look to Aubameyang with the same realisation as he continues to find the balance in his Chelsea team, suddenly winless in three in the Premier League and at risk of being as many as 13 points behind Arsenal by the end of the weekend.
Potter can sympathise with the attention Aubameyang is getting ahead of his reunion, as last week Potter’s return to Brighton was all about him. He ended up humiliated, though, his Chelsea side torn apart by Roberto de Zerbi, the Italian out-Pottering Potter. Chelsea now have an opportunity to strike a blow, as much as it is a chance for Arsenal to put down a marker. Since last winning the Premier League in 2004, Arsenal have finished ahead of Chelsea only twice. This is a pivotal moment for Arteta’s side, potentially showing where their level is this season.
Off the pitch, the heat has been turned up in recent weeks following comments from Aubameyang that leaked while he was in Barcelona, suggesting Arteta “can’t deal with big characters and big players” in his team. “He needs some young players who don’t say anything; they listen,” Aubameyang added, before taking to Twitter to clarify: “Aware there is a video out that was recorded just after I arrived at Barca. At the time I still had a lot of bad feelings in me – Arsenal are doing great things this season and I wish all my old guys well, just not on 6 November...”
Arteta replied with an answer that can only be seen in such scenarios as a dig. Without referencing Aubameyang directly, he said: “I have never been in a better dressing room [than this season] – more enjoyable, more hard-working, a better relationship between staff and players, and it is an absolute pleasure as a coach to be a part of this group.”
Arteta also praised Aubameyang this week, but the devil was in what was not said. “If Auba has something, it’s the ability to put the ball in the back of the net,” Arteta replied, which rather alludes to what the striker doesn’t have.
The truth is, though, as much as the drama and conflict have been played up, it will be have been done so as much by neutrals and commentators as by the fans themselves. Arsenal, top of the table at the start of the weekend, are happy with where and who they are and, if anything, it is the Chelsea fans who are in need of convincing. Come Sunday, it means the stage is set for Aubameyang to prove a few wrong.
Chelsea v Arsenal is on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate on Sunday, with coverage starting at 11.30am. KO, 12 noon
