Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director, Michael Zorc, has hit out at Arsène Wenger after the Arsenal manager spoke admiringly about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Dortmund striker has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal and Wenger, asked about the Gabon international’s character, said: “Yes, a character can be very positive or very negative. Overall you look at achievement over career and if he has done well the character has been used in a positive way.”
Zorc was unimpressed by the Frenchman’s comments and immediately responded. “We think it is a lack of respect when you get involved with players who are playing for another team,” he said on Thursday.
“There is no contact with Arsenal. We can only assume that Arsène Wenger has enough to think about when it comes to the performances of his own players.”
Aubameyang, who has been suspended by Dortmund three times in little more than a year, has also been left out of Friday’s game against Hertha Berlin with Zorg suggesting the striker is not in the right frame of mind.
“He’s in Dortmund training,” said Zorg. “We feel that he’s not 100 per cent with it mentally at the moment. So it became a question of whether or not he could help us in Berlin. It’s a difficult situation.”
Hertha will be happy to see the forward miss the game as the Berliners battle to stay in the hunt for the European spots. Hertha are 11th on 24 points but victory over Dortmund could move them into the top seven.
“I would not mind if he transferred before the game,” said Hertha’s Salomon Kalou jokingly. “That would be better for us. He is an outstanding striker so it would be really hard to play against him.”