'Mikel Arteta brought me to tears – I had to stand up in front of everyone and say sorry' - The Mirror

One former Arsenal star has detailed how the breakdown of his relationship with manager Mikel Arteta led to an emotional apology in front of the squad prior to his transfer exit

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has revealed how Mikel Arteta reduced him to tears prior to his Arsenal departure.

The Gabon frontman ended a topsy-turvy three-and-a-half-year spell at the Emirates Stadium in February 2022 after his contract was terminated by mutual consent. Once the Gunners' golden child, Aubameyang's fate became clear after a litany of disciplinary breaches became too much for manager Arteta.

Aubameyang, 35, was dropped for a key north London derby showdown against rivals Tottenham in March 2021 after he showed up late for the team bus. The resulting conversation between him and Arteta clearly took its toll on the player, who also apologised to the team-mates he let down.

“When we got to the hotel, he called me to his room and said I wasn’t going to play," he told The Athletic. "He was strict. The rules are the rules.

"I felt hurt. I had tears because I wanted to play that game, badly. I didn’t want to hurt anybody. The next day we had a meeting and I stood up in front of everyone to say sorry. He also came to my house to speak, because he didn’t want this to be chaos. I said, 'it’s going to be okay.' But from then it was not the same."

Aubameyang – who scored 92 goals in 163 appearances for Arsenal – had already overcome several run-ins with Arteta during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The France-born forward was then attempting to care for his sick mother in late 2021 when he incurred his manager's wrath after returning late from one trip to his native Laval.

Despite the severity of the fallout that followed the north London derby incident, Aubameyang was retained as captain for the remainder of the season and the first half of the following campaign. However, an unauthorised trip to Barcelona – though Aubameyang insists otherwise – in an attempt to force through a winter transfer was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"I wanted to push it, I just wanted to go," he told The Athletic. And his plot worked to good effect as Arsenal agreed to cancel his contract, with Aubameyang joining Barca on a free (though later returning to the Premier League with Chelsea just four months later).

Despite building a reputation as one of the deadliest forwards of his generation, it's clear no-one was above the team in Arteta's book. And while Aubameyang insists not everything is as it was portrayed to the public, he had to humble himself before cutting ties with Arsenal for good.

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