Mikel Arteta: Aubameyang Must Commit Future To Arsenal To Remain Captain
Mikel Arteta is demanding long-term commitment from every Arsenal captain - including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Aubameyang has been the captain for each of Arteta's opening two games as manager despite his future at the club being up in the air.
Arteta is keeping faith in the Gabon striker, who has been talks over a new deal with Arsenal but negotiations have broken down.
He has just 18 months left on his current contract.
Arteta is unconcerned over his future at the moment but has warned Aubameyang that his captaincy could be under threat if he does not commit to the club.
For now, Arteta is unconcerned. But, ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round home tie with Leeds, the Spaniard hinted that would change if the stalemate dragged on.
Arteta declared: “At the moment, I think everything is okay.
“It’s not the time for me to change things in place now because I haven’t seen the real things to make those decisions.
“But the more stability we generate with our captain – and players in the squad - the more clarity we’re going to have to transmit to the fans what we’re trying to do.”
Arteta was handed the Arsenal captaincy seven years ago by Arsene Wenger - something that came completely out of the blue.
Coincidentally it was in the FA Cup against Championship side Leeds - the same tie that the Gunners face on Monday night in this year's competition.
Recalling the day he was handed the armband, Arteta said: “I didn’t know about it. I arrived there and the armband was next to my shirt.
“I asked Arsene: ”Boss, this is here, is it a mistake?’ and he said: ‘No, no, you’re the captain’.
“It felt incredible as I hadn’t been here long.
He put a lot of faith in me when I’d just arrived. I was very privileged and honoured.”
Arteta, 37, reckons having such a large gang of captains at the club is not a problem – unless it leads to divisive cliques.
“I’ve been in clubs where we had four or five captains. It’s more a leadership group than captains,” explained the ex-Man City number two.
“In the end, one guy wears the armband.
After that, the team picks the leaders. When someone talks, they listen - or they’re looking at the roof. That’s when you see.
“Leadership is related to how a team lives together. Different groups - with different leaders that are not in the best, common interest of the group - is what I want to avoid.
“We have some who are more leaders on the pitch, some more outside the pitch. We want to bring them all together.
“The staff are very important as well. Players don’t live alone in the training ground. They’re constantly interacting with a lot of the staff.
“The leadership has to come from a lot of people in the building.”
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