Revealed: Aubameyang received multi-million pound payoff to leave Arsenal
Robin Bairner
- 2 Feb 2022 05:30 CST
- 5 min read
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s on-off move to Barcelona from Arsenal was one of the stories of transfer Deadline Day.
Exiled at the Gunners, Aubameyang took it upon himself to travel to Spain in the hope that a deal could be struck with Barca.
Arsenal, meanwhile, admitted that they were surprised by the striker’s actions and by the middle of the afternoon it had appeared that any hope of a deal had broken down.
Amid surprising optimism from Barca president Joan Laporta, though, a transfer was ultimately pushed through and by 1 February, Aubameyang had taken to social media to say his goodbyes to the Arsenal support.
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It was a relationship that ended in a fractious manner given that Aubameyang had breached the disciplinary code of the club, which had resulted in him being frozen out by manager Mikel Arteta and considered to have disrespected the history of the establishment by the support.
While it was a move that was hailed by many Arsenal fans due to the money that it was set to save the club over the 18 month period still left on the player’s contract, the deal that the Gunners are getting is perhaps not as healthy as they might have wished, as per revelations in The Times.
The paper suggests that Arsenal paid Aubameyang a lump sum of £7 million to severe his £350,000-a-week deal with the club, effectively giving the Gabon international a healthy payoff to leave in disgrace.
What did Aubameyang say?
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Aubameyang said: “Thank you for making London home for myself and my family for the past four years. We went through ups and downs together and your support meant everything to me.
“Having the chance to win trophies and the honour of being the captain of this club is something I will forever keep in my heart.
“I have always been 100% focused and committed on doing everything I can for this club which is why leaving without a real goodbye hurts - but that is football.
“I’m sad I did not get the chance to help my teammates in the last few weeks, but I have nothing but respect for this club and truly wish all my guys and the fans all the best and many successful years in the future!”
Arsenal, meanwhile, failed to land a forward target to replace the outgoing Aubameyang, who is expected to make his Barcelona debut imminently.
