Elneny: Aubameyang departure was turning point for Arsenal FC

See you in the league

On Sunday there will be a duel between the two London clubs Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC in the Premier League and thus a reunion between Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his old teammates in the “Gunners”, which the Gabonese once captained on the pitch. In the run-up to the game at Stamford Bridge (from 4 p.m. in the TM live ticker), midfielder Mohamed Elneny explained to the “Times‘ why Aubameyang’s departure marked a turning point for the current leaders in England.

The centre-forward, who switched from Borussia Dortmund to the Thames in 2018 for 63.75 million euros and contributed 113 goals in 163 games for Arsenal until January 2022, already had the reputation of a “free spirit” during his time with Westphalia – the latter he confirmed especially off the pitch regularly during his four years at Arsenal. Ultimately with consequences: After one of his repeated missteps, coach Mikel Arteta expelled the 33-year-old from the squad at the end of 2021 due to a “disciplinary offence” and at the same time relieved him of his duties as captain of the team.

Aubameyang had previously flown abroad on a personal matter but returned later than agreed. He was then unable to take part in the training because there was no PCR test. “We expect all our players, especially our captain, to stick to the rules and standards that we all agreed on,” Arteta announced at the time – and these words from the Spaniard are in the current squad of the “Gunners” bis present today, the Egyptian Elneny said when asked about his former team-mate.

Aubameyang’s demotion made the other professionals “anxious” about their future. “Everyone looked because Mikel did that to the captain of the team. ‘What does he intend to do with other players?’ Many thought. The measure showed that we cannot play around, everyone has to focus on the team and the team always comes first,” said the 30-year-old.

Elneny on Arsenal’s secret to success: ‘Don’t allow big egos’

An awareness that still exists in the youngest team in the Premier League and also causes its sporting high in the current season, said Elneny: “We don’t allow big egos. That’s the team chemistry we have now. Everyone loves each other and everyone works for each other. That makes our team really strong, because we don’t have any egos in the team.” Against this background, the right-footer also found words of appreciation for the new captain Martin Ødegaard: “We love Martin so much. Everyone is just happy that he is our captain. We support him and make his work easy. He’s really a good player on the pitch and he’s also very important to us off the pitch.”

Aubameyang left the “Gunners” for FC Barcelona on a free transfer shortly after being ousted by Arteta and returned to England after a brief stint with the Catalans (24 games, 13 goals) on Deadline Day in September for a fee of 12 million euros. So far he has three goals in eleven games for Chelsea.

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