Arsenal paid Aubameyang £7m to terminate £350k-per-week contract ahead of Barcelona move: Reports

Arsenal had to pay hefty compensation to mutually terminate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's contract. The termination went through without a hitch due to a lump sum of £7m paid by the London club.

Things became complicated for the former Arsenal captain after his relationship with manager Mikel Arteta soured. The matter came to a head on Matchday 16 of the current Premier League season when Aubameyang was left out of the squad and stripped of the captaincy for disciplinary reasons.

The Arsenal management decided to stand behind the manager in the tussle. Hence, it became untenable to keep the Gabon international at the club and the Gunners had to find a potential suitor for him. It became all the more tricky as the striker was on a £350,000-a-week contract.

The Gabon international took the initiative to push for a move away to Barcelona on deadline day.

Arsenal's bold decision to let their former captain leave for free

Despite the delay in the official announcement, Aubameyang had already joined his new teammates before his unveiling. Barcelona took their time to adhere to the Financial Fair Play norms and register the player accordingly. The delay was not an issue as the Gabon striker was already a free agent and was thus picked up on a free.

Barcelona announced Aubameyang as their new player on Wednesday. He agreed to take a significant pay cut to secure an 18-month deal with the club.

The Times reported that the north London side had to shell out a hefty severance package to rid themselves of their highest-paid player. It is the second time in recent history that the highest-earning player has had his contract terminated at the club.

Mesut Ozil was also speculated to have been earning from £350,000-a-week deal. His contract was also terminated after a similar fallout. The former German international moved to Turkish side Fenerbahce after leaving Arsenal. The north London club agreed to bear 90% of the midfielder's expenses for the first six months. It cost them about £7.38m.

Aubameyang posted a farewell message to the Gunners supporters on Instagram. The player wrote:

"Thank you for making London home for myself and my family for the past four years. We went through ups and downs together and your support meant everything to me."