LONDON, Dec. 14 — Arsenal have decided to strip Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of captaincy due to a breach of discipline and have confirmed that the forward won’t be available for Wednesday night’s Premier League match at home to West Ham United.
The club confirmed the news in a statement released on Tuesday, which reads, “Following his latest disciplinary breach last week, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will no longer be our club captain, and will not be considered for selection for Wednesday’s match against West Ham United.”
“We expect all our players, particularly our captain, to work to the rules and standards we have all set and agreed. We are fully focused on tomorrow’s match.”
The news ends speculation over the future of the 32-year-old after he did not train with the rest of the Arsenal squad on Friday and was left out of their 3-0 win over Southampton on Saturday.
Although he didn’t go into details, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta explained his decision. “We have been very consistent that we have certain non-negotiables in the team that we have set ourselves as a club, and he’s not involved today.”
This was the latest in a series of incidents between Arteta and the striker, who was also left out of the derby against Tottenham in March after being late for a team meeting. – XINHUA
