Former England star John Barnes has questioned the leadership qualities of Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The 32-year-old was dropped by Mikel Arteta in their 2-1 loss to Everton on Monday night, and the Spaniard opted to bring on Eddie Nketiah first at Goodison Park to help revive their fortunes up front.

"Aubameyang is an issue," he told BonusCodeBets. "When you have a young team, you want your senior players to be leaders and Aubameyang, as captain, isn't displaying those qualities.

"This is the beginning of the end for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's Arsenal career, because he's their club captain, yet Mikel Arteta opted to bring on Eddie Nketiah against Everton instead.

"The problem is, we're not privy to conversations that happen Monday to Friday. That's when the manager assesses his squad, the mood of the camp and will look for the players who have those leadership qualities.

"Football fans only see the team on a Saturday, but the manager knows best and that's a telling sign regarding the Aubameyang situation.

"It's never clear cut when our favourite players aren't playing, and that is why I have full trust in the managers when they make big decisions like leaving star players out. Fans will question it but there's always more than what meets the eye."