Merson insisted that Aubameyang is still one of Arsenal’s best players on his day and demanded that the club should recall him
By Kehinde Okeowo
Arsenal legend and former midfielder, Paul Merson, has said the rift between Mikel Arteta and his former captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, should have been sorted out behind the scenes.
Merson made his view known while speaking to Sky Sports, insisting “Arteta chopped his nose off to spite his face” in respect of Aubameyang’s banishment from the team.
The 32-year-old was excluded from Arsenals’ first-team squad by Mikel Arteta and stripped of the captain’s armband after a disciplinary breach.
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He has not featured for Arsenal for over a month the last being the 1-2 loss to Everton at the Goodison Park last year.
Merson, while commenting on the faceoff, said the issue should have been handled better and the coach shouldn’t have allowed the striker to “get hung out to dry and binned”.
He went on to say Arteta needs to recall the striker back to the team and resolve the feud amicably, as he remains one of Arsenals’ best.
“To be honest, I thought Mikel Arteta chopped his nose off to spite his face in regard to Aubameyang in the first place.
“Arsenal need to have a sit-down meeting with him. You have seen it before where players have just said, that’s it. He got hung out to dry and he got binned.
“It could have all been sorted out behind the scenes. There’s a lot to this story and probably it could have been handled better on both sides, but now, it needs to get sorted out.
“For me, Aubameyang, on his day, is still one of Arsenal’s best players.”
A lot of teams have been trying to secure the services of Aubameyang while the faceoff continues, the latest being Barcelona and Juventus, who are trying to sign him on loan for the rest of the season.
