Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was left out of Arsenal’s matchday squad to face Southampton due to what Mikel Arteta described as a “disciplinary breach”, understood to involve returning late from a trip abroad earlier in the week.
The club captain did not train on Friday and was subsequently not named in the party to face Saints at the Emirates. Arteta did not give a more specific reason for omitting Aubameyang, who was dropped to the bench for the defeat against Everton on Monday night after a period of spluttering form.
“Unfortunately due to a disciplinary breach,” Arteta said when asked about the reason for Aubameyang’s absence. “We’ve been very consistent that there are certain non-negotiables in the team that we have set ourselves, and as a club, and he’s not involved today.”
Questioned on whether the ban would extend beyond Saturday’s game, Arteta said: “It starts today. But certainly it’s not an easy situation, a situation that we want to have our club captain in.”
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Arteta would not elaborate on Aubameyang’s punishment after Arsenal’s 3-0 win. “You’re not going to get anything else from me, unfortunately it happened,” he said. “I explained what happened and the reason he wasn’t involved and that’s where I’m going to stay on it.” He did not confirm whether Aubameyang would retain the captaincy or whether he would return to face West Ham on Wednesday.
Arteta has taken action against Aubameyang for punctuality-related reasons before, dropping him to the bench for the derby against Spurs in March after he reported late. He was also reminded of his responsibilities by the club in February after apparently breaching Covid-19 regulations to get a tattoo. The latest infraction will exasperate Arteta and may cast his status as captain into doubt.
Aubameyang has not scored in his last six appearances and was only afforded five minutes of action at Goodison Park, with the out-of-favour Eddie Nketiah introduced as a substitute before him. Alexandre Lacazette started at centre-forward against Southampton, as he did in the Everton fixture.
