TV personality Piers Morgan and Arsenal legend Lee Dixon have come to blows on Twitter due to disagreeing opinions on the departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese forward left the Emirates Stadium in the January transfer window after being stripped of club captaincy by manager Mikel Arteta and frozen out of the first team. However, although Aubameyang had been underperforming for a while for the Gunners, it has left the North London outfit short of options in the final third – much to the frustration of Morgan.
Since moving to Barcelona, the striker has found some of the best form of his career with eight goals and one assist in nine La Liga appearances. Morgan has been vocal in his anger that Arsenal let the forward leave, but on Sunday night Dixon decided to try and put an end to the journalist's social media rants – leading him to be labelled ‘patronising’ by Morgan.
The exchange began with Morgan tweeting: “Aubameyang scores again for Barcelona. His 10th goal in 14 games since Arsenal gave him away for free. Now officially one of the worst decisions in managerial history,” before tagging Aubameyang and Arteta.
Many have grown tired of Morgan’s repetitious tweets, and Dixon, too, had had enough, he replied: “Piers. Really. You are really making yourself look rather silly. Enough. Get over it. He was disruptive. Club always bigger. You know that.”
But Morgan wasn’t willing to be silenced by the Arsenal hero, he replied: “I don’t agree. We lost a world-class striker because our manager mismanaged him. Quite clear from his form at Barca, where Xavi loves him, that he’s still a magnificent player. And we’re left with Lacazette who hasn’t scored this year. Terrible decision that will cost us top four.”
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Dixon didn’t agree though, “Some players fit, others don’t” he explained. “Opinions is where it’s at. Our coach decided he didn’t fit. We all have our faves. He quite clearly is yours. Banging the Aub(ameyang) drum suits who? You and your agenda which is fine. But doesn’t help anyone but you. I would say ease off and support.”
The strongly-worded message from the two-time Premier League winner didn’t sit well with Morgan, who ended the exchange by replying: “You don’t need to be patronising. I’ve supported Arsenal for 50 years and always will. My only ‘agenda’ is for us to be a competitive team again. Giving our best striker away for free and bringing in no replacement is proving to be the terrible mistake I said it was at the time.”
It is no secret that the Gunners will be in the market for a striker in the summer having previously failed to sign Dusan Vlahovic in the January transfer window – who opted to remain in the Serie A and join Juventus from Fiorentina. Benfica star Darwin Nunez and Everton ’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin have both recently been dubbed as the club’s transfer targets with the season drawing to a close, though it remains to be seen if Arteta is able to secure the signature of either player.
