Mikel Arteta says the current Arsenal dressing room is the best he has ever been involved in, following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s criticism of his man-management of star players.
Aubameyang was Arsenal’s most important player in the early days of Arteta’s reign, firing the Gunners to FA Cup success at the end of the extended 2020 season.
However, the pair’s relationship soured over a series of disciplinary breaches by the forward and Aubameyang was effectively exiled, stripped of the captaincy and then eventually allowed to join Barcelona on a free transfer in January.
Now at Chelsea, a video emerged on social media last week in which Aubameyang claimed Arteta struggled to handle big players and personalities within his squad, suggesting that he worked better with young players willing to fall in line.
Arteta refused to be drawn on Aubameyang’s allegations, saying only that “people are free to discuss what they want”, but when asked to describe the state of the dressing room following his departure, called it “phenomenal”.
“I’ve never been in a better dressing room,” added the Spaniard. “It’s more enjoyable, more hard-working, better relationship with the staff to players and it’s an absolute pleasure to be a part of this group.”
