I wasn’t the problem in Aubameyang fall-out, admits Gunners boss Arteta

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insists he was not the “problem” which caused Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave for Barcelona–butinstead was trying to be the solution to ongoing issues with the striker.

Aubamey angle ft the Emirates Stadium last week after becoming the latest player to agree a contract termination with the club, allowing him to sign for the Catalan giants on a free transfer.

The 32-year-old had not played for Arsenal since December after he was dropped and stripped of the club captaincy by Arteta as a disciplinary measure after returning late from an agreed break.

Asked at his unveiling as a Barcelona player what had happened in north London, Aubameyang replied: “I think it was a problem just with him (Arteta).

“I can’t really tell you much.

He wasn’t happy and that was it. I can’t say anything else because that’s what happened. I wasn’ t very happy and I’ m better this way .”

Arteta, though, countered those claims as he addressed the media on the eve of Arsenal’s Premier League trip to Wolves.

“You ask the question directly to me, so I respond. I am extremely grateful for what Auba has done at the club, for his contribution since I have been here and the way I see myself in that relationship is the solution, not the problem,” he said.

“What I am saying is that I’ve been this solution, 100 per cent, I can look in the eye of anybody.

“I do lot of things wrong, for sure. But the intention all the time is the best – and not for me, it is for the club and for the team.”

It is not the first time Arteta has won a battle of wills with the club’s top earner after Mesut Ozil was ostracised from the first-team before he left for Fenerbahce in January 2021 after his contract was terminated.

Such decisions may raise eyebrows but Arteta believes they are in the best long-term interests of the club.

“I don’t send (a message),” he said.

“It is not me here, it is the club and we make the decisionsto defend the club, to try and improve the club as much as possible to respect the values and tradition soft his club.

“Obviously you talk much more about the difficult decisions than the positive ones.

"But there are far more positive decisions than difficult ones.”