Aubameyang dropped from Arsenal’s win over Southampton for ‘returning from France a day late after collecting his mum’
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG flew to France to collect his mother before being axed from the Arsenal squad.
The club captain was given permission to go abroad on Tuesday on the understanding he would return on Wednesday.
And the move was made worse by confusion around Covid testing protocols, with Auba unable to resume training until he had returned a negative PCR test.
The 32-year-old was left out of the matchday squad for the 3-0 victory over Southampton.
A fuming Mikel Arteta explained last week: "Unfortunately (this was) due to a disciplinary breach.
"I think we have been very consistent that we have certain non-negotiables in the team that we have set ourselves as a club, and he's not involved today."
Aubameyang has previously missed games to be with his mum, who has struggled with ‘health issues’ this year.
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He sat out two other fixtures against the Saints in January - one in the FA and one in the Premier League.
Last week his plan was to fly to France to collect his mum and bring her back to England - something Arsenal approved of.
And despite catching a flight back on Thursday morning rather than Wednesday night, reports suggest the forward turned up for training on time.
He had also undergone a Covid test before departure in France, although that wasn’t enough to satisfy English testing requirements.
Arsenal are understood to have told the player to stay away from their London Colney base and instead train at home.
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