Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang has stated that he left Arsenal for Barcelona despite earning £350,000 per week.
Mikel Arteta had expelled the 32-year-old Gabonese striker and stripped him of his captaincy when he returned late from a personal trip in December.
He left Arsenal by mutual consent a month later before joining Barcelona on the final day of the January transfer season in a sensational deadline day deal.
The striker told Mundo Deportivo that joining Barcelona was his ‘dream,’ and that he knew the deal would go through a week before it did.
‘My father did everything with my lawyer, and they can say it best,’ he said.
‘However, we already knew a week ago that he could end up signing for Barca.’ There had already been encounters the week before, and I was aware of this.
‘I genuinely wanted to go to Barca,’ he added. I gave up my salary since this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’
The £350,000-per-week deal of Aubameyang was set to expire next summer, with the remaining time valued at about £27 million. He revealed that he discussed Barcelona with a number of current and former players, including Arsenal icon Thierry Henry, Hector Bellerin, and Ousmane Dembele.
The striker arrived in Spain on deadline day, causing some difficulty because the clubs had not reached an agreement.
On deadline day, the striker arrived in Spain to complete his deal to the club. He had a bright start to life at the Catalan giants, netting a hat-trick in their 4-1 win over Valencia at the weekend.
Aubameyang became the first player in the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 to score a hat-trick.