Arsenal legend and former defender Bacary Sagna has said that Mikel Arteta made the right decision by selling Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the January transfer window.
The forward left the club by mutual consent following deadline day and subsequently joined Barcelona a few days later, after he had been stripped of his Arsenal captaincy and frozen out of the squad.
The Gabon international had failed to report back to training on the agreed time and date after being allowed to visit his mother in France back in December, with Arteta punishing him as a result.
Because it wasn’t the first in-club disciplinary order that Aubameyang had received, his manager decided to take things into his own hands and effectively ensured he didn’t play for the club again.
And Sagna told Betting Expert that the Spaniard ‘always prioritises the team’ and made the right decision following the events, with the 32-year-old eventually departing north London altogether.
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“I know for a fact that Mikel (Arteta) is trying to keep the team together, trying to build a group and make the team come first no matter what,” said Sagna.
"He always prioritises the group and the team, so it seems like that's exactly what he did by selling (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang.
“I think they want to build something great. They want a group to look forward and move in the same direction, and it seemed like Arteta or the club didn't agree any longer with Aubameyang. I think they had to make a decision and take responsibility.”
Aubameyang had scored seven goals in 15 games in all competitions for the Gunners this season before he was stripped of his captaincy, and was then left out of his side’s next 10 matchday squads.
The striker was stripped of that captaincy for a lack of ‘commitment’ to fulfil his duties, which was reportedly not the first time he had performed this sort of behaviour after multiple disciplinary breaches.
And Sagna admits that he was surprised by Aubameyang’s situation and fully expected him to be a leader in the squad.
The former French international added: “Well I was surprised by the events. I always expected him (Aubameyang) as a captain to be a leader.
“Hopefully Aubameyang will have a great spell at Barcelona, because he is a fantastic player.
"It's a shame for Arsenal, but at the end of the day, the team is more important than any player.
“We cannot take back what he did for the club. He was a top, top player. This is a part of the football life. You cannot always shine, you cannot always be on top. You can't always put the cherry on the cake.”
Aubameyang scored 92 goals in 163 games in all competitions during a five-year spell at the Emirates Stadium and since completing his move to Barcelona at the beginning of February, he has scored three goals in three appearances in La Liga.
