Aubameyang plan well in place even before very public Mikel Arteta fallout

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was reportedly already plotting an Arsenal exit before he was publically stripped of the captaincy.

Aubameyang was taken to account by Gunners boss Mikel Arteta following a disciplinary breach in the build-up to last weekend’s 3-0 win over Southampton on Saturday. He was also completely left out of the squad for Wednesday night’s win over West Ham.

The 32-year-old angered Arteta by reportedly returning late from a permitted personal trip to France to visit his mother.

Arteta came down hard on the Gabon striker after other incidents too. The player has missed a Covid test, broke regulations to have a tattoo and reported late for the north London derby over the past year.

The Emirates chief revealed on Tuesday that his team would be led by a “leadership group”, made up of Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka and Rob Holding for the time being.

With their falling out now very much in the public eye, it appears that Aubameyang is looking at all his options to end his Arsenal stay – although that was likely even before this latest spat.

Aubameyang agent holds exit talks

According to football.london, Aubameyang’s agent has held meetings in Italy, Spain and Paris to assess the market for his client.

Arsenal looking at Aubameyang replacements

The Gunners are looking to shift their former captain after everything that's happened recently.

The forward currently has 18 months left of his Gunners contract. However, he looks increasingly likely to leave before the summer of 2023.

The Independent states that Barcelona are interested in signing Aubameyang, with Xavi in the market for a striker.

He would have to take a pay cut for that deal to happen, with Barca said to offering winger Ousmane Dembele in a swap deal.

However, Barca are also looking at a cheaper option in Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani. That could mean a route to Catalonia out of London being taken away from Aubameyang.

Major Aubameyang decision looms for Arsenal

The Athletic reports that the former Dortmund man met with technical director Edu and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, before a one-to-one with Arteta on Monday.

Indeed, Arteta was asked in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday whether the club could sell him in January.

“I can say right now that we have made this decision. Unfortunately, it’s a really tough one. Obviously if I had to choose I would not like to be sitting here talking about it but we had to do it. But for now, he is not involved in the squad,” he said.

“What I can say now is to make the decision that we made is really hurting. It is still like this and it needs a bit of time to heal. So for now, he is not involved in the squad.”

One thing is for sure, the Gunners now have a major decision to make over their top striker. They either cash in while they can still get a reasonable fee. Or they allow him to run down his contract and leave for nothing.

The latter would not make much sense, especially if Aubameyang continues to cause disruption and is not picked to play.

READ MORE: Pundit names ‘first-class’ duo capable of firing Arsenal into Champions League amid captaincy claim