Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang exit shows Mikel Arteta learned from Arsene Wenger, says Parlour

Mikel Arteta's hard-line decision to exile Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and send him to Barcelona shows he has learned from Arsene Wenger's management, believes former Gunners midfielder Ray Parlour.

Parlour feels that Wenger, who managed Arsenal from 1996 to 2018, had players 'taking the mick' at the end of his reign, which contributed to losing the dressing room, and Arteta has acted swiftly to avoid a repeat.

Arteta showed no desire to bend the rules for Aubameyang, a top earner on a £350,000-a-week contract, and Arsenal duly terminated that contract as he made the move to join Barcelona this week.

'He didn't like confrontation, Arsene Wenger. He didn't like having arguments and maybe towards the end of his run people took the mick a little bit,' Parlour told talkSPORT.

'Mikel Arteta might have been part of that and he's probably learned from that.

'You can't do that because suddenly you lose the dressing room and we saw what happened to Arsene Wenger.'

Arteta had been key to Aubameyang signing his three-year Arsenal contract in September 2020 but the pair's relationship was broken beyond repair after the Spaniard froze the striker out of his plans and stripped him of the captaincy following a breach of discipline in returning late from a pre-agreed trip to see his mother.

The Gabon international had not played for the Gunners since a five-minute cameo against Everton on December 6.

Parlour adds that in his era at Arsenal, players would have called out bad attitudes in the dressing room, rather than a manager.

'It was a little bit different in my era because you had a lot more characters in the dressing room and if people stepped out of line in the squad itself, you'd get told by the players. The manager didn't have to do a lot,' he said.

On being unveiled by Barcelona on Thursday, Aubameyang confirmed that Arteta was the reason he left Arsenal.

Aubameyang said: 'I think the problem was only with him (Arteta) and he made the decision. I can't say much. He wasn't very happy, I stayed very calm and that's it.

'They were difficult months but that's how football is sometimes.

'For my part I have never wanted to do something wrong and now I think that this is the past and I want to think about the present and right now that is my answer.'