Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Arsenal forward recovering after contracting malaria
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had to spend time in hospital after contracting the illness while on international duty with Gabon; Aubameyang: "I’m already feeling much better every day, thanks to the great doctors that detected and treated the virus so quickly"
Friday 16 April 2021 08:09, UK
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has revealed he is recovering from malaria after contracting the disease while on international duty with Gabon.
The Arsenal captain missed Sunday's 3-0 Premier League win at Sheffield United and was also absent for the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Slavia Prague on Thursday night.
Arsenal had said Aubameyang was missing due to "illness", but moments before his team-mates kicked off in the Czech capital, Aubameyang revealed more detail on Instagram.
"Hey guys, thanks for all the messages and calls," he wrote.
"Unfortunately I contracted malaria whilst being on national team duty in Gabon a few weeks ago.
"I've spent a few days in hospital this week but I'm already feeling much better every day, thanks to the great doctors that detected and treated the virus so quickly.
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"I wasn't really feeling myself the last couple weeks but will be back stronger than ever soon! Will be watching my boys now, huge game for us! Let's go and get it @arsenal."
Asked about his absent skipper following Arsenal's 4-0 victory on Thursday night, Mikel Arteta said Aubameyang is "feeling good".
"We just spoke with him," Arteta said. "He's at home, he's fine. He had two days in hospital to get the right treatment, but he's feeling good now.
"We will see how he recovers. I think he will need a few days to recover from that, but he wants to be back as soon as possible. That's what he said to me.
"When he wasn't involved against Sheffield, two days before he wasn't feeling good, but nobody could expect that was the case.
"They did some more tests and that's when it came up and straight away the doctor realised very quickly what had to be done and they did a great job. He's safe and he's feeling good."
