Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will no longer be Arsenal Football Club’s captain after an official statement by the club.
The forward was dropped from the playing squad that took on Southampton at the weekend, with the team going on for a 3-0 victory in his absence.
There has been mixed messages since, with Mikel Arteta having been reluctant to open up on the subject despite a number of questions during his post-match press conference at the weekend, but the decision has now been made public.
Arsenal have announced that not only will Aubameyang no longer retain the captain’s armband, but he remains unavailable for our upcoming match with West Ham in midweek, adding a warning to any further disobedience.
The official website reads: ‘We expect all our players, particularly our captain, to work to the rules and standards we have all set and agreed.’
“I think there can be little complaint about Auba being removed from his role, he hasn’t been leading by example on the pitch for a while now, and he clearly doesn’t lead with his words either.
“With him having shown a lack of leadership, it is natural that he should be removed as captain, and the club will now have to make the right decision on who should be his predecessor”.