Metro
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang has been dropped due to a disciplinary breach ahead of Arsenal’s game against Southampton, Mikel Arteta has confirmed.
The Arsenal skipper was relegated to the bench against Everton in midweek and, after being introduced as a late substitute, missed a glorious late chance to earn a point.
Aubameyang was expected to be in contention to return to the starting line-up this afternoon, but was not included in the matchday squad having reportedly missed training on Friday.
Football Daily on X (formerly Twitter): “🗣 “Unfortunately due to a disciplinary breach.”Mikel Arteta explains why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not in the Arsenal squad today pic.twitter.com/Je1cIvm5oA / X”
🗣 “Unfortunately due to a disciplinary breach.”Mikel Arteta explains why Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not in the Arsenal squad today pic.twitter.com/Je1cIvm5oA
Speaking ahead of the game against Southampton, Arteta said: ‘Unfortunately (Aubameyang isn’t playing) due to a disciplinary breach.
‘I think we’ve been very consistent, there are some non-negotiables on the team that we have set ourselves and as a club and he’s not involved.
‘This certainly isn’t an easy situation, we don’t want our club captain to be in that situation.’
When pushed on whether Aubameyang would miss more than one game, Arteta said: ‘It starts today.’
It is not the first time the 32-year-old has been omitted for a breach of discipline after he missed last season’s north London derby having arrived late for a team meeting.
Manager and player had since gone a long way to rebuilding their relationship but Gary Neville claimed a rift was developing again on the evidence of what he saw at Goodison Park on Monday night.
Arteta was forced to address the Aubameyang situation at his pre-match press conference and denied Neville’s claim that he was looking to sell his most experienced goalscorer in the January
More to follow…
