- Forward left Gunners in January
- Preparing to face former club
- Has added incentive to do well
WHAT HAPPENED? The Gabonese striker, who is now on the books at LondonrivalsChelsea, also says he is “ready” for the Gunners in a pre-match trailer from BT Sport that looks ahead to what promises to be an intriguing Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Aubameyang is preparing to face Arsenal for the first time since being forced out of the club on the back of a discipline breach in north London, and Arteta accepts that any player facing their former employers is going to have added incentive to do well.
WHAT THEY SAID: Aubameyang says in the video: “Arsenal, nothing personal. I'm back, I'm blue, I'm ready. Let's go.”
Arteta, who was the man to strip the forward of captaincy duties at Emirates Stadium before offloading him to Barcelona, has responded by saying: “You expect players to do that. If you ask any of our players how they feel about where they are, they will say the same. Very dangerous. If Auba has something, it’s the ability to put the ball in the back of the net and he’s going to be doing that until the day that he decides he’s had enough of football.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Arsenal boss Arteta went on to say of the breakdown in a once productive working relationship with Aubameyang, who netted 92 goals for the Gunners through 163 appearances: “Well, it’s a decision that we had to take and there are different parties involved. At the end of the day, when someone is not with us any more and being a player and having the role that he had at the club and how important he was, you always wish everybody the best. When someone makes that decision to move somewhere else, they need to enjoy their profession and he seems to be happy.”
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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DID YOU KNOW? Chelsea striker Aubameyang scored 68 goals in 128 Premier League games for Arsenal between 2018 and 2021, including one against the Blues in December 2019 - he could become just the second player to score for both sides in this fixture in the Premier League (excluding own goals), after Cesc Fabregas.
WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL? Arsenal will make the short trip to west London sat top of the Premier League table, with Arteta’s side dropping just five points through 12 games so far.