October 4 – Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has slammed Borussia Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke over the motives of his departure from the Ruhr club, calling the German executive a “clown” on social media.
On Thursday the forward came on as a substitute against Standard Liege in a routine 4-0 Europa League win for Arsenal against the Belgian club, but earlier the Gabonese player had taken to Twitter to respond to an interview Watzke had given to a German newspaper and in which the 60-year old claimed that Aubameyang had only left the German club for monetary reasons.
In January 2018, the centre forward joined Arsenal for a fee of £56 million. “Better for you I never talk about why I really left Dortmund Mr Watzke. You are such a clown,” tweeted Aubameyang. “I remember that time you said we never gonna sell Ousmane [Dembele], then you saw more than £100m, you were the first to take that money.
“Don’t talk about money please. Leave me alone please.”
Aubameyang was referring to the departure of Dembele in the summer of 2017 when FC Barcelona acquired the youngster for £135.5 million.
In an interview with the Suddeutsche Zeitung Watzke had been talking about the future of England player Jadon Sancho, who is in his third season at Dortmund, when he made this pointed reference about his club’s former player.
He said: “Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays great at Arsenal, will probably be warm-hearted when he looks at his bank account, but on Wednesdays he will be saddened when he has to watch the Champions League on television.”
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713933393labto1713933393ofdlr1713933393owedi1713933393sni@o1713933393fni1713933393