Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has left Arsenal football club to join Barcelona. Whilst the Arsenal fans share mixed reviews on his departure, I, for one, think the Gooners could regret this move.
A fair few players have left Arsenal and become Champions League, Premier League or La Liga winners. Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Olivier Giroud to mention a few. The point is they found success immediately after their departures, and it could be the same story for Aubameyang.
Chelsea has had their fair share of poaching Arsenal talent. Fabregas and Giroud were probably the greats gifts that Arsenal could have ever given them. Funny how things work out.
Aubemeyang has finally said some words about his relationship with Mikel Arteta. Whilst Thomas Tuchel had sung of the Gabon international’s praises, Arteta had, had enough and essentially exiled him from the team in December. The 32-year-old’s last match was against Everton for five minutes on the 6th of December. Since then, he has not been a part of the squad.
Following Aubameyang’s comments, there was a clear disharmony between himself and the manager. He revealed at his Barcelona introduction,
“My last few months at Arsenal were complicated, that’s football sometimes. For my part, I never wanted to do anything wrong.
"My problem was only with Arteta. I can’t say much more, I wasn’t happy.”
The difference between Chelsea and Arsenal is that in the past, where there has been disharmony amongst the players and manager, Chelsea has usually favoured the player.
I use Jose Mourinho’s second stint at Stamford Bridge as an example. Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, and many more showed frustrations with the manager, which showed through their results. Before the turn of the year, Mourinho was sacked for a second time. That same group of players went on to be crowned Premier League champions the season after.
This method is probably not the model way to handle player/manager issues in the dressing room. However, it has worked well for Chelsea so far.
Player/manager drama aside, it’s strange that several Arsenal players find success once they leave. Barcelona may be going through a transitional period, but a league title whilst Aubameyang remains their player is still in the balance.
Giroud left Arsenal in 2017 and since won two European trophies. Two more than Arsenal have secured in the Premier League era. Aubameyang may not be happy with how he left North London, but if history dictates anything, he is in for a glorious future for the rest of his career.
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