Arsenal's £25m transfer myth busted and truth behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's contract

Arsenal will reportedly not save as much as £25million from the exit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Gabon international was earning £350,000-a-week at the Emirates - £18.2m per year - and still had 17 months remaining on his contract before he joined Barcelona on deadline day.

There were claims that the Gunners would pocket all of the £25,783,333 they were tied into paying him between now and the end of his contract in July 2023 had he remained at the club.

But that is not the case according to The Athletic.

Arsenal have made a significant saving, but it is not as high as £25m. Mikel Arteta's men are splitting his wages with Barcelona until the summer, at which point the Spanish club will then start paying the full amount of his salary which is actually lower than what he was earning in north London.

It was also claimed that Arsenal have been forced to pay Aubameyang £7m to cancel his contract which contradicts the notion that he sealed a free transfer to the Nou Camp.

The Athletic backed up this report but says the club are paying Aubameyang in instalments rather than a lump sum.

Aubameyang was surplus to requirements at Arsenal after a public fallout with the Spaniard as he was stripped of the captaincy.

The striker was unveiled as Barcelona's new signing on Thursday and admitted to the press on Thursday that an issue with Arteta drove him to make the decision.

"A difficult few months. I've never wanted to do anything wrong, it's in the past," said Aubameyang.

When asked if he had a problem with the Gunners boss, he added: "Yeah, I think it was just with him. I can't say much, he wasn't happy, I stayed calm and that's it."

The 32-year-old is lacking match fitness as he hasn't played for Arsenal since