There appears no way back for Aubameyang at Arsenal

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s form at Arsenal was faltering, Mikel Arteta stuck with him. Despite barren spells in front of goal this season and last season the manager made it clear he was his centre-forward going forward.

It was an admirable stance. Aubameyang was backed to rekindle his previous form and despite personal troubles and him contracting malaria, the belief was there that he could be the senior piece of this youthful puzzle to fire Arsenal back into the top four.

He has not kicked a ball for the club since December 6.

As talks with Barcelona reached an impasse over the terms of his salary, the move was on the brink of collapse. An eventuality few predicted could transpire became a very real possibility: Aubameyang would stay at Arsenal.

History suggests there is no way back for Aubameyang at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta with fractured relationships and team progression spelling the end

But could he ever be reintegrated? History suggests no.

Stripped of the captaincy and banished from the squad for the latest in a succession of disciplinary breaches – some known to the public and others that supposedly didn’t come to light – Mikel Arteta’s non-negotiables were made plainly clear.

Using past examples of Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi, once a player is exempt, they tend to stay exempt.

The manager’s core principles are everything to him. It’s what he entrenches himself in, for better or for worse, and dedicates himself to. The ripple effect of these demands, rightly or wrongly, won’t change.

While talks have continued to move Aubameyang on this month, were they to fail there would still be no way back for the former captain. No in Arteta’s eyes. Surely.

Every variable has been strained and each relationship damaged to the point of no repair. Whether one feels every action taken is right or not, there is no conceivable way of an amicable resolution.

A £350k-per-week player left to rot in the reserves would be another hideous chapter in this club’s growing repertoire of Oscar-winning moments. Fortunately for some this is all being documented.

While the squad is away enjoying warm weather training and ‘team bonding’ exercises, Aubameyang was left at home with the all parties hoping to securing a transfer for him. That alone said enough.

To top it all off, unbeknownst to either the buying or the selling club, Aubameyang flew out to Barcelona of his own accord. A holiday, if you like, one conveniently placing him in the exact location where he can be swift to wrap up this move. In many ways it’s a clever idea to ensure this runs as smoothly as it can do. In Arteta’s eyes it will be incensing.

Say there is no move and say Aubameyang is reintegrated, which Aubameyang would that be, exactly? It would be one whose form has deteriorated over the past year and a half, who hasn’t played Premier League football for two months, and whose head will be all over the place.

Purely from the player’s standpoint, whether contracted to the club or not, the quantity counselling it would require to mend these bridges would stretch well beyond the end of the season.

For it to ever work it requires Arteta to deviate from form, and for Aubameyang to foresee there being anything to gain on his part in repairing ties. Those are but two stumbling blocks in this unscalable obstacle course of reconciliation.