Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny has claimed that he and his teammates were left "scared" after Mikel Arteta stripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the captaincy and exiled him from the squad.
The relationship between captain and manager soured towards the end of 2021, prior to which Aubameyang had already been dropped from the squad once due to a disciplinary breach.
In December, Aubameyang is reported to have returned late from a trip to France, and he was subsequently absent from the win over Southampton before being stripped of the armband.
Despite his goalscoring feats in North London, Arteta did not hesitate to exile the Gabon international from the squad, and he completed a free transfer to Barcelona on deadline day in January.
Aubameyang will reunite with his former club when Chelsea take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in Sunday's Premier League game, and Elneny has opened up on the squad's fear after Arteta brutally cut the striker from the ranks.
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"Now everyone looked at themselves because Mikel did that to the captain of the team. What is he going to do with another player?" Elneny told reporters after Thursday's Europa League win over FC Zurich, as quoted by the Evening Standard. "Now everyone was scared!
"Everyone is scared with their position because this happened to Aubameyang. Of course if anyone is not the captain of the team, does a small mistake, they are going to have the same problem, and no one needs that problem.
"This showed that now we can't play around, now we have to be calm with the team and the way the team is going we have to stick with the team, not do something different.
"We agree with what Mikel decided because he is our boss and we just have to agree what his vision is for [us]."
Aubameyang ended his Arsenal career with 92 goals and 21 assists from 163 games in all tournaments, but the Gunners have coped fine without the 33-year-old in the early stages of the 2022-23 season.
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Arsenal have taken 31 points from 36 on offer in the Premier League to sit at the top of the table and progressed to the Europa League last 16 as group winners with Thursday's 1-0 success over Zurich.
Elneny believes that the absence of arrogance and "big egos" has contributed heavily to Arsenal's stellar form under Arteta, who has ruled the club with an iron fist since succeeding Unai Emery.
"We don't allow big egos. This is the dressing room we have now. Everyone loves each other and everyone works for each other. This is what actually makes our squad really strong, because we don't have egos in the team," the Egyptian added.
"We know we have a good team, we have good staff and Mikel really makes us feel like we are a really strong team now. We just believe every day we can do something special this year."
Arsenal hold a two-point lead over reigning champions Manchester City in the Premier League table but could be knocked down to second before meeting Chelsea if Pep Guardiola's side get the better of Fulham on Saturday.
Ben Knapton
