Press conference

Arteta gives the latest on Aubameyang

The big news ahead of kick-off in Prague involved Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Our club captain confirmed in an Instagram post that he had contracted malaria while on international duty with Gabon last month, and that he had spent a few days in hospital receiving treatment this week.

And after the game, Mikel Arteta was asked for the latest on Auba. Here's what he said:

on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang...

We just spoke with him. He's at home, he's fine, he's completely fine at the moment. He had two days in hospital to get the right treatment but he's feeling good now.

on whether Auba will be back training soon...

We'll see how he recovers. I think he'll need a few days to recover from that. He wants to be back as soon as possible, that's what he said to me.

on when he found out about Aubameyang contracting malaria…

When he wasn’t involved against Sheffield, two days before he wasn’t feeling good, but nobody could expect that was the case and the doctors took some more tests and that’s when it came out. The doctor realised very quickly what had to be done and they did a great job, and he’s safe and feeling good.

on whether it could be a while until Aubameyang makes a full recovery…

Hopefully not because he feels really good, that’s what he said to me today, and he really wants to get back, but I don’t know, it shouldn’t take too long.

on whether he spoke to Aubameyang after the game…

No, I came straight to you guys, so I haven’t had the chance, but I will have a phone call with him. He’s mentioned that he’s at home and he’s feeling good.

on tonight’s result being a ‘get well soon’ present for Aubameyang…

Well, everybody has been in contact with him. He’s been really supportive with every teammate through messages and calls, and he was watching the game like everybody else at Colney with David, Martin, Kieran and everybody that hasn’t been able to be involved and has been missed here. But it is what it is, these things happen and he travelled to this country and picked it up, and this risk always exists.

See Full List

Fixtures & Results

Premier League
Ticket Info