Aubameyang issue resolved but captain not guaranteed start – Arteta

Mikel Arteta insists “everything has been resolved” with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after talks, but says he cannot guarantee the Arsenal captain will start against Olympiacos on Thursday.

Aubameyang was demoted to the bench and remained an unused substitute during Sunday’s north London derby win over Tottenham after breaching Arsenal’s pre-match protocols.

The forward is understood to have been late for a pre-match meeting and Arteta opted to start Alexandre Lacazette instead.

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However, the Spaniard insists there are no issues with Aubameyang after the pair discussed the matter.

“We talked, everything has been resolved in a really positive way so we move forward,” Arteta said on Wednesday.

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In Aubameyang’s absence, Arsenal beat Spurs 2-1 and Lacazette scored the winning goal from the penalty spot.

As a result, the Gabon striker could face a fight to get into the team for the second leg of Arsenal’s Europa League last-16 tie against Olympiacos on Thursday night.

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The Gunners head into the game with a 3-1 aggregate lead following the first match in Athens, but asked if it was a given that Aubameyang would return to the team, Arteta said: “No.

“Everybody has to obviously perform at the highest level to earn their place in the team, there is no exception there and we will try to put a really competitive team out tomorrow to try to win again.”