Arsenal broke club record for £56m January transfer who had awkward Mikel Arteta run

Arsenal broke club record for £56m January transfer who had awkward Mikel Arteta run-in

Arsenal spent a club record fee during the January transfer window in 2018

Arsenal were in dreamland after paying a club record fee in the January transfer window, only to end up in a nightmare four years later. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund was greeted with fanfare as the Gunners welcomed their new £56million striker on deadline day in January 2018.

The prolific forward scored on his debut and required little time to adapt to English football, netting 10 in his first 14 appearances. Being Arsene Wenger's last signing, Aubameyang looked to represent the start of another successful era as he clinched the Premier League Golden Boot in his first full season, despite Arsenal's shortcomings on the pitch.

In November 2019, the Gabon international was named the club’s new captain and would go on to lift the FA Cup at the end of that campaign. His signing of a new three-year contract in September 2020 was celebrated by Arsenal fans. However, Aubameyang was later frozen out of the team and left the club by mutual consent, less than 18 months after putting pen to paper.

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Manager Mikel Arteta dropped his skipper from the matchday squad to face Southampton in December 2021 for disciplinary reasons, with the striker being stripped of the captaincy a few days later. Aubameyang had returned late from a sanctioned trip abroad to bring his mother back to England, but his delay impacted the club’s COVID-19 protocols, leading to Arteta’s frustration.

In 2024, when recalling his fallout with the Arsenal boss, Aubameyang told Colinterview: "I arrive, the coach finishes his meeting and then he grabs me and he completely tears into me. He shouts at me like I’m crazy.

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“He says, ‘You put a knife in my back. You can’t do that to me given the times we’re going through.’ At that moment I tell myself that I’m not going to answer him because it’s going to end angrily.

"I didn’t go partying. He knows very well the reason for my departure so at that moment I don’t understand why he is lecturing me like this. I go home and the doctor calls me and says, ‘Tomorrow, the coach doesn’t want you to be there.’"

He continued: “The days pass and the doctor tells me, ‘Look, he doesn’t want you to be with the group anymore, but you will be able to come and train but separately.’ I say to myself ok… and then afterwards, he calls me and we have a meeting so he can explain to me that one, he’s taking away the captain’s armband, and two, I’m not training any more with the group."

Aubameyang was subsequently frozen out of the team until his contract was ended by mutual consent in February 2022, with the forward joining Barcelona the next day. Despite losing his star striker, Arteta had made his reasons for dropping Aubameyang clear when discussing his initial decision two months earlier.

The Arsenal manager said: "Unfortunately, (Aubameyang has been left out) due to a disciplinary breach. I think we’ve been very consistent with no negotiables as a team that we have set ourselves as a club, so he’s not involved today. Certainly, it’s not an easy situation, a situation that we want our club captain to be in.”

Arsenal allowing Aubameyang to leave demonstrated Arteta's newfound authority as he began shaping a squad that would later challenge for Premier League titles. Aubameyang scored 92 goals in 163 games for the Gunners.

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