There’s nothing quite like a bit of beef and Hans-Joachim Watzke and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have provided plenty for us to chew over this week.
The pair are butting heads after the Borussia Dortmund boss took a sly dig at the Arsenal striker, insinuating he only moved to the Emirates for money.
That saw Aubameyang hit back on social media, labelling the Dortmund chief a clown and suggesting there was more to his 2018 move to Arsenal than meets the eye.
We knew it wouldn’t be long before Bild picked up on the drama and they’ve done that today, providing the details to explain why Watzke and Aubameyang are butting heads.
They say that it all centres around a failed move to China back in 2017. Aubameyang had an offer from Chinese Super League side Tianjin that would have seen him earn €20m a year.
Dortmund had promised to sell him, and for all intents and purposes, the Gabon international was on his way. However, the transfer ‘burst in the last second’ and Aubameyang was forced to stay.
Predictably, Bild say he wasn’t pleased about that and showed it with his attitude. Not only was he late for training his ‘entourage’ were regularly coming and going from the training ground, something Dortmund were not happy about.
It’s claimed Aubameyang then later went out of his way to force his move to Arsenal, further adding to the ire that Watzke was feeling against him.
The move last year should have been the end of it but, Watzke decided to reopen an old wound with his comments and here we are.
Bild say Watzke is aware of Aubameyang’s ‘tirade’ against him, although he refused to comment on the situation when asked by the newspaper.
They even report could sue the Arsenal man if he wants, as apparently calling someone a clown is enough to warrant legal proceedings, but that’s unlikely, and he will instead leave Aubameyang to ‘simmer’.
