Borussia Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was past the point of no return with the club, and blames the striker’s behaviour for that.
Speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper this week, Watzke gave his thoughts on the Aubameyang transfer.
“He clearly told us that he would stay for the season, partly as a reaction to the departure of Dembélé,” the CEO explained, reports Dortmund’s site. “But in his case, there was also the fact that he believed we should be grateful towards him because in 2016, when Hummels, Gündogan and Mkhitaryan all left, he declined some very lucrative offers and pledged himself to BVB.
“There’s an element of truth to that. We would have struggled if Auba had been part of the 2016 exodus. This was a feeling that resonated with us, too. And so, among other reasons, that’s why we ultimately did it.
“But above all, it was because we had the feeling things would never return to normal with Auba in the second half of the season. Not with the fans. Not with the team. Too much had broken down due to his behaviour. The sum of 64 million was not so high that we had to do it for financial reasons alone.”
Aubameyang spent four-and-a-half years with Dortmund. For much of that time, he was very successful individually, but only won one German cup and two Supercups with the club. You can see why he might feel the club owed him for sticking around as long as he did.
‘Withholding performances’
Watzke made it clear that they wouldn’t tolerate similar bad behaviour in the future.
“Stock-listed company or not: the next player who tries to put us under pressure by withholding performances or even striking will not get away with it and will be made to sit in the stands,” he said.
Admittedly, Aubameyang didn’t look at his best in his final game for the club, against Freiburg. The striker only had one shot in the entire 90 minutes, which missed the target. He also made just 10 passes (71.4% pass accuracy).
By contrast, he had three shots, scored one goal and made 15 passes (88% pass accuracy) against Everton.
Clearly the Dortmund CEO wants to put that down to Aubameyang holding back his performances. The reality is that it could’ve been a number of things, but you can understand the Bundesliga club wanting to portray their former star as the bad guy.
Hopefully their relationship isn’t damaged too badly by the events of the winter window. After all, Aubameyang scored 141 goals for the club, and at least he didn’t leave for a rival. For now, it doesn’t seem like that’s much consolation.