Arsenal icon Kevin Campbell believes Mikel Arteta has been vindicated when he stuck to his guns to offload Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last season.
The Gabon striker was stripped of his stripes as the Gunners captain after falling out with the Spaniard and subsequently made his way to Camp Nou briefly before ending up at Chelsea before former gaffer Thomas Tuchel was given the sack.
Leaked footage had emerged earlier this month of the 33-year-old Gabonese sarcastically taking a swipe at his ex-Gunners manager Arteta following his switch to Spain.
He said: “To manage big characters and big players, he can’t deal with it.”
And then added: “He needs some young players who don’t say anything, they just listen.”
Arteta was slick and exercised great restraint in responding to Aubameyang’s graceless claims and said instead he has never experienced a better dressing room than the one in this current campaign.
Arsenal are now sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table by four points having won nine out of their opening ten matches with this their best ever start to a top-flight season, and Campbell, who won five major honors during his time at Highbury, has backed Arteta for having ultimately made the right call.
Speaking to talkSPORT on behalf of Mr Gamble, Campbell said: “Aubameyang saying Arteta couldn’t deal with big players, you can say whatever you like I don’t think it’ll change anything.
“I know the narrative from the Arsenal fans, when he left for Barcelona, scoring goals and Arsenal were struggling it was made out to be a huge mistake.
“Now you don’t hear anything about that because the team are functioning. Gabriel Jesus came in and he’s doing a fantastic job at the top end of the pitch.
“Most importantly, winning football matches cures everything and the amnesia about Aubameyang starts to kick in.
“He’s at Chelsea now and all the best to him, but ultimately football is all about getting results because it’s a result driven business.
“Mikel Arteta has had a lot of tough decisions to make, and they are tough as a manager when you have to deal with big players like Aubameyang who can score a lot of goals at a fast rate.
“But I think Arteta has been vindicated in the fact he got Aubameyang out of the dressing room and now it’s starting to work for him and the football club.”
Insofar as Arsenal’s title tilt is concerned, Campbell has declared they still can’t be considered as legitimate contenders after their collapse last term where they finished outside the top four.
He remarked: “There’s a few more tests they need to go through if I’m being honest.
“Solely because this Arsenal group haven’t done it before and with the way last season ended as well.
“There’s been a difference this season, but you can’t ignore the way last season ended when it was in Arsenal’s hands to get into the Champions League.
“They couldn’t take that chance and you can say it’s partly because it’s a young squad, injuries and whatever, but fans don’t want to hear those sorts of excuses.
“Fans want you to get the job done, Mikel Arteta has reacted by recruiting correctly and now the team are built to withstand and overcome every obstacle.
“They’ve done pretty well so far considering they’ve won nine out of ten Premier League games so far.
“I think the mindset is key and having that change in mindset within the squad.
“Credit has to go to Mikel Arteta and his staff for what they’ve achieved so far.
“But there are many more hurdles and obstacles to come before anyone really says Arsenal are for real in terms of going for the title.”