Arsenal hotshot Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has called Hans-Joachim Watzke a “clown” after the Borussia Dortmund chief executive suggested he only moved to Arsenal for money.

The Gabon international joined the Gunners in January 2018 from the Bundesliga giants.

Arsenal have yet to qualify for the Champions League since Aubameyang moved to the Emirates, playing their European football in the Europa League.

Dortmund, however, have continued to feature in Europe’s elite club competition since his departure.

Watzke was reluctant to sell Aubameyang but yielded when Arsenal stumped up a then club-record fee of £56million.

As per various reports, Watzke told Suddeutsche Zeitung: “Of course it is hard to keep a player in the face of such sums. Some go to clubs because of this money, where they have not played Champions League for years.

“Aubameyang, who plays great at Arsenal, will probably be warm-hearted when he looks at his bank account, but on Wednesdays will be saddened when he has to watch the Champions League on television.”

Replying to the Dortmund chief, the Arsenal striker, took to Twitter:

Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte has blamed the referee for the defeat his team team suffered at the Nou Camp in the UEFA Champions League clash, saying: “There were many things I didn’t like about the refereeing, right from the start.”

Lautaro Martinez silenced the Camp Nou crowd within three minutes and the Nerazzurri dominated for the entire first half, but were pinned back in the final half-hour, capitulating to a Luis Suarez brace.

According to saw “an undeserved defeat” against Barcelona and criticised the referee, but also warned Inter “cannot be happy, as this is not the mentality of a great team.”

“Compliments are nice, but after a performance like that, we deserved much, much more and should’ve taken at least some of our chances,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia following a 2-1 loss.

“We put Barcelona under serious pressure for long periods on their own turf, but after the break they raised the tempo and some fatigue set in with a few of our players.

“I feel quite bitter. It pains to say it, but I saw some incidents that were directed in a certain way. There were many things I didn’t like about the refereeing, right from the start. I don’t even want to talk about it, but we got the sensation on the bench that I really didn’t appreciate.

“It says respect on the referee’s shirt, so I told them that it ought to be reciprocal, that they should show respect for those who come here to play football.

“It is an international referee, one with a lot of experience who was in charge of the last Champions League Final, so this isn’t someone who ought to be influenced by the atmosphere of Camp Nou.

“Having said all that, I think we played well, we proved that we could cause problems for Barcelona and there are regrets we didn’t kill off the game when we had the chance.

“In the second half, Barcelona’s quality came out and we had a dip in fitness levels, which made us defend too deep. I don’t think the result is a fair reflection of the game.

“Now we lick our wounds and prepare to play Juventus on Sunday. I find it difficult to talk in positive terms after a defeat, because I suffer when we lose. I suffer.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @inter.it/en/hp

Ernesto Valverde acknowledged “Inter proved they are an excellent team, but Barcelona raised the tempo and that made a big difference.”

Antonio Conte’s men dominated the first half at Camp Nou and went in front through Lautaro Martinez within three minutes, but a second half Luis Suarez brace turned it around.

“I will say it’s the right result, the Inter Coach will say it isn’t,” Valverde told Sky Sport Italia after a 2-1 victory.

“Inter are an excellent team and they proved that in the first half. We came out fighting for the second half and scored the decisive goals.

“The Nerazzurri have won their first six in Serie A and it showed, as they scored with the first opportunity. We made changes, raised the tempo and that made a big difference to the game.

“We know Messi is unique and clearly he makes the difference. He wasn’t in the best physical shape, but he is improving and we saw his assist for the second goal late on, so he can’t be doing that badly.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @fcbarcelona.com

There are reports Chelsea are considering recalling Ike Ugbo from his loan spell at Roda JC after it was claimed he has not been paid his £38,000 wages this month.

The Dutch club are thought to be spreading the English star’s pay packet across the rest of the squad instead of to the player himself.

According to reports in Holland, Ugbo earns about ten times what his team-mates take home and coaches would rather have one angry unpaid player than several.

Now the Blues are mulling over whether to rescue the 21-year-old hotshot from his Roda misery for breaching the terms of his loan deal.

Roda are thought to be around £1million in debt under Mexican investor Mauricio Garcia de la Vega’s leadership, report The Sun.

Angry fans even threw him out of the stadium in Friday’s draw at home to De Graafschap at talk of him not paying players or staff to cover the monies owed.

Lille manager Christophe Galtier has identified inexperience as the reason his young team lost to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League.

Tammy Abraham and Willian scored two goals for Chelsea to hand the Lique 1 side their second defeat in the competition. Victor Osimhen’s goal was not enough the French club.

After the match, Galtier said: “We lost our second match and first at home. We were too timid early on.

“We were up against a team who are used to dealing with this kind of game every weekend, who play in Europe every season, and you could feel the difference. We had some highlights, collectively.

“To unbalance such an opponent, you need to be at 110, 120, 130 per cent. My players put more energy and commitment into the match than they did against Ajax.

“They gave everything, but it wasn’t enough.”

Photo Credit: Twitter @chelseafc.com