Aubameyang STRIPPED of Arsenal captaincy after ‘latest disciplinary breach’ and axed from West Ham clash

ARSENAL have sensationally stripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the club captaincy.

The forward was dropped by Mikel Arteta for Saturday's 3-0 win over Southampton after arriving back late from an authorised trip to France.

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Arsenal confirmed: "Following his latest disciplinary breach last week, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will no longer be our club captain, and will not be considered for selection for Wednesday's match against West Ham United.

"We expect all our players, particularly our captain, to work to the rules and standards we have all set and agreed.

"We are fully focused on tomorrow’s match."

The Gunners haven't confirmed who Aubameyang's successor will be.

Alexandre Lacazette wore the armband for Saturday's win over the Saints.

Asked about Aubameyang's omission at the weekend, boss Arteta said: "It was a disciplinary breach and that’s why he was out of the squad.

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“I think we have been very consistent that we have certain non-negotiables in the team that we have set ourselves as a club.

"Let’s talk about the game guys. I try to explain to you what it was and I did it frankly, and I am not going to say anything else.

“I am going to focus on the performance and what the team did on the pitch.

“You are not going to get anything else out of me that happened in the dressing room.”

Arteta added: “It starts today. But certainly it’s not an easy situation, a situation that we want to have our club captain in.”

The Gabon star is understood to have been given permission to travel abroad earlier this week because of a family issue, but then reported back late from that.

New UK rules mean travellers need to self-isolate on their return until they get the result of a PCR coronavirus test, which is also thought to have caused a problem.

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Aubameyang was dropped in March for the Gunners' North London derby clash with Spurs - after another 'disciplinary breach'.

The 32-year-old was appointed captain in 2019 after Granit Xhaka was stripped of the role.

According to the Mail, taking the captaincy from Aubameyang could cause disruption in some quarters of the Arsenal dressing room.

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