Players could vote for next Arsenal captain as Arteta considers Guardiola method

Mikel Arteta may allow Arsenal players to have a say in who replaces Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as captain.

Aubameyang was stripped of the armband yesterday after his latest disciplinary breach, which has put his future at the club in doubt.

Arteta has refused to say whether Aubameyang, who failed to report back on time from a trip abroad last week to visit his mother, will play for Arsenal again and the 32-year-old will not be in the squad to face West Ham at Emirates Stadium tonight.

Arsenal have not named a successor to Aubameyang and, in the interim, the captaincy will be shared by the leadership group in the squad, which includes vice-captain Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka and Rob Holding. Lacazette is expected to captain the side tonight.

Under former boss Unai Emery, the players voted for who they wanted to be captain and a similar system is used at Manchester City, where Arteta worked as an assistant to Pep Guardiola.

Asked about the prospect of holding a squad vote during the process of appointing a new captain, Arteta was not opposed to the idea, with players possibly choosing their preferred captain from a shortlist of options.

“There are so many different ways to do it,” he said. “Sometimes the manager can decide the captain, or can decide the second or third captain, and the group has to defend who is going to represent them in that dressing room.

“They are good [ways] and they can all work if you have the right people.

“I have seen and have participated in both of them, and at the end what is important is not the journey or the destination. The important thing is the company, that’s the most important thing.”

After telling Aubameyang of his decision in a face-to-face meeting, Arteta said yesterday that the Gabon forward had failed to show the commitment expected of him.

If Arteta decides Aubameyang has no future at Arsenal, offloading him during the January transfer window is unlikely to be an easy task.

Aubameyang still has 18 months to run on his reported £250,000-a-week contract. Asked directly if Aubameyang had played his last game for Arsenal, Arteta replied: “All I can say is that for now, he’s out of the squad, he’s not involved, this is the decision that we’ve taken.”

Arteta was coy when asked about the prospect of selling Aubameyang in January, saying: “What I can say right now is that we have made this decision (taking the captaincy off him), unfortunately it’s a really tough one and obviously if I had to choose I would not like to be sitting here talking about it, but we had to do it.”

The situation comes at a bad time for Arsenal, given this is the busiest time of the season. The Gunners face West Ham in the first of four games in 10 days, knowing a win will take them into the top four.

“I’m hoping the team gets out there with the fire in their eyes,” said Arteta.