Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has revealed that his father helped terminate his contract with Arsenal before he sealed a move to Barcelona in the January transfer window.
The Gabon international was stripped of the club captaincy back in December following a disciplinary breach and was subsequently left out of all of Mikel Arteta's matchday squads before departing the Emirates Stadium on transfer deadline day.
Aubameyang then signed for La Liga outfit Barcelona and he scored a hat-trick for the Catalan giants over the weekend during their 4-1 win over Valencia.
Now, he has spoken out about how his £350,000-per-week contract in north London was cancelled.
Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, he said: "My father did it all with my lawyer and they can say it best.
"But the week before we already knew that he could end up signing for Barca. The week before there were already contacts and I knew it."
The veteran forward added: "I really wanted to go to Barca. I gave up my salary because it is an opportunity that you have once in your life.
"It was something incredible (his ovation at the Nou Camp). It is a dream to play on a field like this and receive this ovation. I was very pleased and happy. The truth is that it was incredible."
Asked whether Arteta spoke to him before he signed for the Blaugrana, Aubameyang said: "Yes, Arteta wished me luck at Barca."
And when asked to compare Arsenal’s style to Barcelona's, he added: "Some of the things we did with Arteta are similar."
Arteta and Co are keen to bring in a top-class frontman this summer to replace the 32-year-old and football.london understands that Alexander Isak and Jonathan David are both centre-forward options that are being looked at by the north London club.
