Mikel Arteta Refuses To Confirm If There’s A Way Back For Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta fuelled speculation that Aubameyang has played his last game for the club…

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refused to confirm if there was a way back into the team for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after stripping the striker of the captaincy, Sky Sports News reports.

Speaking to the media ahead of the huge London derby against West Ham United on Wednesday, the conversation was dominated by Aubameyang after a club statement on Tuesday revealed that the 32-year-old would no longer be captain.

This comes after a “disciplinary breach” last week saw the Gabon international left out of the squad that beat Southampton on Saturday.

Aubameyang will not be selected for the game against David Moyes’ side and Arteta refused to confirm if we’ll ever see the former club captain play for Arsenal again.

Asked if there is a way back for Aubameyang at the club, Arteta responded: “What I can say as for now, it’s been a lot to digest. It’s a difficult decision to make, it will take a bit of time.

“What I can tell you now, we made this because we are hurting. It needs time to heal and he’s not involved.”

The club statement released on Tuesday stated that this was the “latest” incident involving Aubameyang, which suggests the manager felt he was left with no choice but to reach this conclusion.

Having said that, it’s difficult not to see similarities in Aubameyang’s current predicament and Mesut Ozil’s final few months at the club which does fuel suspicion that we may not see the former Dortmund man in a Gunners shirt again.

Arteta, at the time of writing, hasn’t named a full-time successor to Aubameyang in terms of the captaincy and instead will rely on the “leadership group” constructed last summer.