Thomas Tuchel has offered his backing to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the striker was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy.
The Chelsea manager has maintained a close relationship with Aubameyang after the pair worked together at Borussia Dortmund and won the 2017 German Cup.
Tuchel is still in contact with the Gabon international – and says he has sympathy with the forward, whose Arsenal future has been thrown into doubt in recent days.
Mikel Arteta stripped Aubameyang of the captaincy for a disciplinary breach, which is believed to have been a late return from a trip abroad.
He was dropped for Saturday’s game against Southampton and will also be left out of Wednesday’s clash with West Ham, Arteta has confirmed. But Tuchel says he will reach out to his former player “at some point.”
“I think that he was a very important player for me, we have a very close relationship,” he said. “When we meet it’s still always very, very nice.
“And I can only say the best things about Auba as a player and a person. I feel sorry for him that he’s in trouble.
“This is not where he should be with his kind of quality and the positive character that he has. And I still believe in this.
“But I’m not involved, I’m not involved in what’s going on in his club now, and for this I want to also show my respect and not be involved and judge what is right and wrong. I just have my picture, my relationship with Auba, and this is not affected by that.”
Arteta revealed on Tuesday just how difficult a decision it was to sanction Aubameyang.
“We have made this decision that unfortunately is a really tough one,” the Arsenal boss said. “If I had to choose I wouldn’t like to be sitting here talking about it, but we had to do it.
“When we have to make that decision, it’s because it’s the right one to defend the interests of the football club.
“For now, it’s been a lot to digest and a really difficult decision to make, so we need a bit of time. It was really hurting and he needs a bit of time to heal.”
