Striker’s standing may not have plummeted as Mesut Özil’s did but demotion puts the need for an overhaul into sharper focus
Arsenal may feel their captain’s armband is cursed. Pierre‑Emerick Aubameyang is the 10th player to have received, and relinquished, the role since Patrick Vieira’s departure in 2005 and it is hard to make a case that any of its bearers have been particularly successful. The long line of short-lived leaders speaks succinctly of the uncertainty that has dogged the club in recent years and Mikel Arteta will be exasperated that the issue of leadership has reared its head again over the past week.
Arteta might consider himself one of the few modern-day Arsenal captains whose tenure, between 2014 and 2016, did not end in rancour or plain disappointment, although he was out through injury for long periods of it. It was evident on Tuesday, though, that history lessons would cut little ice. “I think it is more than enough to discuss only that matter,” he said, making clear he would talk only about Aubameyang’s axing and not the ignominious trend it underlines. The immediate problem is stark: captain or not, what does Arteta do with his squad’s highest-paid player and one genuine global star?
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