More details of former Arsenal skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have emerged after he was stripped of his captaincy earlier this week and made to walk the gangplank in being dropped from immediate squad selection until further notice.
Mikel Arteta will once again be doing without the services of his badly out-of-form Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this weekend as Arsenal travel to Leeds in search of a third consecutive win to further cement their fourth place in the league standings.
A 2-0 victory over West Ham on Wednesday night moved the Gunners into the top four and Arteta will be eager to seal their place there at Elland Road on Saturday evening. However the 32-year-old Gabonese striker will not be present as he continues to pay the price for returning to training late following a trip to France and had been dropped for the Gunners clash with Southampton before being stripped of the club captaincy ahead of the visit of David Moyes and his side.
Aubameyang’s future at Arsenal does not look at all promising at the moment and on Friday Arteta confirmed that the striker would once again be left out of his match-day squad. When asked during his pre-match press conference on Friday whether the former Borussia Dortmund man would be recalled against Leeds, the Spaniard’s answer was uncompromisingly blunt.
“No, he’s not available for selection,” he said. When queried more directly on whether Aubameyang had a future in north London, the Spaniard was persistent in his coyness, saying: “For this game, he’s not available for selection.”
Again a similar response was repeated when pressed on what would be required of Aubameyang in order to get back into consideration.
It has subsequently been revealed that being dropped from match-day squads and being stripped of his captaincy duties are not the full extent of the punishment as the Telegraph reported on Friday that Aubameyang has also been banished from first-team training at their London Colney centre and is consigned to training on his own with Arsenal allegedly having devised a plan for him to maintain match fitness in these sessions and this is set to continue until he goes to the Africa Cup of Nations with Gabon next month.
With the January transfer window just around the corner, intense speculation surrounding his future is bound to be on the increase and the club are expected to re-assess his future upon his return from Cameroon.
Credit: Football Tribe Malaysia
