‘He’s not the only one who left this way’: Sokratis Papastathopoulos hits out at Arsenal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s sour exit as he claims letting the striker join Barcelona was NOT the ‘correct choice’
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Arsenal by mutual consent to join Barcelona
- The striker had fallen out-of-favour during his final few months at the Gunners
- Arsenal have mutually terminated deals with a number of players in recent years
- Sokratis Papastathopoulos has hit out at the decision to let Aubameyang leave
Former Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has hit out at the club’s decision to allow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to join Barcelona.
Aubameyang left the Gunners in January after he was dropped by Mikel Arteta following a disciplinary breach, with the 32-year-old leaving the club via mutual consent.
Since joining Barcelona, the Gabon international has returned to his best, scoring eight goals in nine LaLiga appearances.
Arsenal allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave the club in January after the two parties agreed to mutually terminate his deal, with the striker then moving to LaLiga side Barcelona
The 32-year-old has been in red hot form since joining Barcelona scoring eight league goals
Sokratis told the Sun that Arsenal have a habit of allowing players to leave in the same manner as Aubameyang.
Mesut Ozil, Willian, Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac have all left the club via mutual termination in recent seasons.
Sokartis, now at Olympiacos, said: ‘Aubameyang is not the only one who left this way from Arsenal, other players also left like that; including myself.
‘I don’t know and personally I don’t think it was the correct choice, the matter could have been resolved differently.
Sokratis is one of a number of players who have also had their deals mutually terminated
‘I’ve known Aubameyang for many years, I know what he can do as a footballer. I am certain of what he will do at Barcelona.’
Regarding his own exit from the Gunners he said: ‘[The way I left] Was not the best, I was left out of the team. But it’s a matter I haven’t spoken about yet, I respected the manager’s choice. I spoke with him.’
As well as having players leave by mutual termination, there have also been issues with other players currently contracted to the club.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles wanted to join Everton in the summer of 2021 due to a lack of game time at the Emirates.
He made his feelings clear in a post on Instagram as he wrote: ‘All I want to do is go where I’m wanted and where I’m going to play @Arsenal.’
Mikel Arteta had dropped Aubameyang from the squad following a disciplinary breach
The 24-year-old was kept at the club only to go on loan at West Brom for the second-half of last season.
After lack of football this campaign, he has again gone out on loan in January – this time to Serie A side Roma.
Another player who has had issues is French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, who is impressing on loan at Marseille this season.
Following a post-match altercation with Brighton player Neal Maupay in June 2020, Guendouzi was excluded from Arsenal training and left out of their following match-day squads.
Mesut Ozil and Willian also agreed to leave Arsenal after mutually terminating their deals
Matteo Guendouzi (pictured) and Ainsley-Maitland Niles have also had issues at Arsenal
Arteta said he dropped the Frenchman due to ‘internal issues’ with reports at the time suggesting the Spaniard was fed up by the player’s attitude.
Arsenal are in the midst of a battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
They have recently dropped out of the top four with Tottenham, inspired by Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski in red hot form for the Gunners’ rivals.
Arsenal’s forwards meanwhile have struggled for goals since the start of January.
Bukayo Saka has netted four league goals since the turn of the year, though the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe have only scored one goal in that time.
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