Arsenal lost their disgraced former captain and talisman on deadline day as Pierre-Emerick Auybameyang joined Barcelona on a deal that could see him remain in Catalonia until 2025.
The Gunners were keen to get his salary off the books, but were unable to come to a complete arrangement in that regard, meaning that they are still paying the Gabon star at least some form of financial package for the next six months, before Barca pick up the rest of the slack.
🔴 165 matches
⚽️ 92 goals
🥇 Premier League Golden Boot 18/19
🏆 FA Cup winnerAubameyang was undoubtedly one of the best Arsenal players of the Emirates era! 🤩
Now he starts his new chapter at Barcelona…pic.twitter.com/bVHGj8A4cR
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 1, 2022
But it has since emerged that Manchester United and, more importantly, Anthony Martial had an important role to play in his move.
How Martial helped Arsenal
Anthony Martial completed a loan move to Sevilla in January after struggling for game time at Manchester United under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, but it could have been very different.
The Frenchman revealed that Barcelona showed a strong interest in the striker as they hunted for reinforcements in attack, and even went as far as speaking to Martial’s agents. ‘Barcelona did speak with my agents in January, Juventus wanted to sign me and they were pushing – it’s true, but my priority was Sevilla’, the Manchester United man explained.
🗣️ Anthony Martial on joining Sevilla in January:
“Barcelona did speak with my agents in January, Juventus wanted to sign me and they were pushing – it’s true, but my priority was Sevilla… Here I have the chance to be a starter, to play regularly as I wanted”. pic.twitter.com/abkBIfr8LW
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) February 9, 2022
Had Martial moved to Catalonia in January, it is unlikely that a move for Aubameyang would have materialised, leaving Arsenal and Auba to try and repair bridges that appeared long burned.
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Premier League table
| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City | 23 | 41 | 57 |
| 2 | Liverpool FC | 22 | 39 | 48 |
| 3 | Chelsea FC | 24 | 30 | 47 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 24 | 11 | 40 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 23 | 6 | 39 |
| 6 | Arsenal FC | 21 | 8 | 36 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 20 | 2 | 36 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 21 | 3 | 34 |
| 9 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 22 | 0 | 30 |
| 10 | Leicester City | 20 | -3 | 26 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 21 | -4 | 26 |
| 12 | Southampton FC | 22 | -8 | 25 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace | 22 | -3 | 24 |
| 14 | Brentford FC | 23 | -12 | 23 |
| 15 | Leeds United | 21 | -16 | 22 |
| 16 | Everton FC | 21 | -13 | 19 |
| 17 | Newcastle United | 22 | -20 | 18 |
| 18 | Norwich City | 22 | -32 | 16 |
| 19 | Watford FC | 22 | -18 | 15 |
| 20 | Burnley FC | 20 | -11 | 14 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 16 |
| Jota, Diogo | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City | 9 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 8 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 8 |
| Ronaldo, Cristiano | Manchester United | 8 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 |
| Smith-Rowe, Emile | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 8 |
| Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 7 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 7 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 7 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 7 |
| Maupay, Neal | Brighton & Hove Albion | 7 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City | 7 |
| Silva, Bernardo | Manchester City | 7 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 6 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 6 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City | 6 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salisu, Mohammed | Southampton FC | 0 | 7 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 0 | 6 |
| Neves, Ruben | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | 7 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United | 0 | 6 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 0 | 6 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 0 | 6 |
| Westwood, Ashley | Burnley FC | 0 | 6 |
| Alonso, Marcos | Chelsea FC | 0 | 6 |
| Norgaard, Christian | Brentford FC | 0 | 6 |
| Tarkowski, James | Burnley FC | 0 | 6 |
| Laporte, Aymeric | Manchester City | 1 | 5 |
| Mings, Tyrone | Aston Villa | 0 | 6 |
| Llorente, Diego | Leeds United | 0 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion | 0 | 6 |
| Ward, Joel | Crystal Palace | 0 | 6 |
| Brownhill, Josh | Burnley FC | 0 | 6 |
| Skipp, Oliver | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 6 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 0 | 4 |
| Gallagher, Conor | Crystal Palace | 0 | 5 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 1 | 4 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander-Arnold, Trent | Liverpool FC | 10 |
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 9 |
| Robertson, Andy | Liverpool FC | 8 |
| Bowen, Jarrod | West Ham United | 7 |
| Jesus, Gabriel | Manchester City | 7 |
| Pogba, Paul | Manchester United | 7 |
| Mount, Mason | Chelsea FC | 6 |
| Cancelo, Joao | Manchester City | 6 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United | 5 |
| Dennis, Emmanuel | Watford FC | 5 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United | 5 |
| James, Reece | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Kovacic, Mateo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Redmond, Nathan | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Mahrez, Riyad | Manchester City | 4 |
| Saka, Bukayo | Arsenal FC | 4 |
| Benrahma, Said | West Ham United | 4 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 4 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City | 4 |
| Rice, Declan | West Ham United | 4 |
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