Piers Morgan has once again hit out at Mikel Arteta's treatment of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Arsenal, claiming that the striker was "humiliated" by boss.
Aubameyang was infamously stripped of the captaincy by Arteta in January which led to his eventual departure on a free transfer to Barcelona. His sudden exit left the Gunners with significantly less firepower in their attack for the second half of last season and Morgan was highly critical of the controversial decision at the time, as Arteta's side dropped out of the Champions League spots.
Despite new behind-the-scenes revelations over how the situation played out recently coming to light, his feelings haven't changed. Amid reports that Aubameyang could be on his way back to the Premier League with Chelsea, the Arsenal-supporting TV personality has used the speculation to again vent his frustration at Arteta's hotly-debated choice.
The recent outburst came on Twitter, as a user questioned Morgan's view that Aubameyang isn't a problematic presence in the dressing room, but rather a "world-class striker" who the Gunners should've kept hold off.
Suggesting that Barcelona would want to keep him more than half a season if that was the case, @GoonerTalk wrote: "Piers Morgan went on and on about Arsenal offloading "world-class striker" Aubameyang, just for Barcelona to try to get rid of him 6 months later. If a player is rumoured to be problematic and then two teams bin him within 6 months, you can take those rumours as gospel."
Firing back, the TalkTV presenter replied: "No reports of [Aubameyang] being anything but exemplary at Barca, and a goal machine. Now he may go to Chelsea, managed by [Thomas] Tuchel who managed him at Dortmund & loved him so much he wants to work with him again. So every part of this tweet is utter twaddle."
Another user responded by noting that that current Chelsea manager Tuchel would intentionally lie to the ex-Gabon international about the start time of team meetings in order to ensure that Aubameyang wasn't late. Morgan remained steadfast, however, adding: "He's a poor time-keeper, big deal. Tuchel managed him superbly, Arteta chose to humiliate him & give him away - costing us Top4."
The former Borussia Dortmund hitman's future is making headlines again in London, with Tuchel said to be keen on reuniting with the man who scored 79 goals from during their time together in Germany. The Blues gaffer appeared to confirm the reports before the start of the new Premier League season, with Barcelona happy to end Aubameyang's short-lived spell at the Camp Nou.
"I would be interested in the 79 goals," admitted Tuchel. "We will not comment further. There are a lot of names out there, sometimes due to the fact we discuss a lot of names but also sometimes pure speculation. We will not get involved."
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Barcelona have been unable to register any of their new five signings ahead of the upcoming La Liga campaign, meaning that the likes of Aubameyang are being pressured to leave. Blaugrana president Joan Laporta has been pulling so-called 'financial levers' all summer long to get the club "out of hospital."
"We've had so many big decisions to make and with a lot of pressure," Laporta declared at Robert Lewandowski's grand unveiling. "A year later, we are turning the situation around. We have to continue to work.
"But we can say from a financial standpoint, we are out of the hospital. We still have to be cautious."
