Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ‘withheld performances’ to force through Arsenal move, Dortmund chief claims
Bundesliga giants' angry supremo Hans-Joachim Watzke says the next player to behave like that won't be allowed to leave
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PIEERE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG "witheld performances" for Borussia Dortmund to force through his Arsenal move, according to the Bundesliga giants' chief executive.
The Gunners' new £56millions striker has apologised for "crazy" behaviour after the Germans twice suspended him, reportedly for missing training and team meetings.
And Dortmund supremo Hans-Joachim Watzke took his club's anger to a new level when he accused the Gabon star of below-par displays to ensure his deadline-day exit.
Watzke told Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung: “On Thursday, I laid it on the line for the squad — the next player who does something like that will fail miserably
“He’ll run into major problems. The next player who tries to put us under pressure by withholding performances or even going on strike will not get a pass and will instead sit in the stands.
“They are all aware of it. This is now a public statement. Following Dembele and Aubameyang, there is now an overriding interest for the club — we need to get a better structure into our squad again.
“Aubameyang committed himself to us for this season, especially as a reaction to Dembele’s transfer.
“But he also had the notion that we owed to him because in 2016 he opted for us and decided against very lucrative offers amid the departures of [Mats] Hummels, [Ilkay] Gundogan and [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan."
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Dortmund are still reeling after losing so many star players.
Bayern bagged Hummels, Manchester City lured Gundogan and Manchester United signed Mkhitaryan, who joined Arsenal last week in a swap with Gunners striker Alexis Sanchez.
Then, this term, Barcelona paid £138m for France frontman Ousmane Dembele and now Aubameyang has departed too.
But it is the manner of Aubameyang's exit that has hurt Dortmund most.
Losing a player to a club who have failed to qualify for the Champions League and could well miss out again this season might be frustrating enough.
But it is Aubameyang's antics, and seeming lack of respect, that have caused the deepest cuts, even sparking protests against him from Dortmund fans.
The 28-year-old shrugged all that off by netting on his Gunners' debut, Saturday's 5-1 rout of Everton.
And Dortmund at least saw his loan replacement from Chelsea, Michy Batshuayi, score twice in their first match without Aubameyang, Friday's 3-2 win at Cologne.
Aubameyang has apologised on Instragram for his behviour leading up to joining Arsenal.
He said: "First of all sorry for everything that happened last month. But I wanted to move last summer, but it didn't work and now it had to be.
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"Maybe it wasn't the best way but everyone knows that Auba is crazy - and yes, I'm a crazy boy!
"I made mistakes but never in bad intentions. I will never forget these four and a half years at Dortmund because you all gave the strength for the level I am now on.
"I think the whole BVB family, the fans, the club, the staff, and of course my team-mates."