Pierre Emerick Aubameyang has joined Barcelona on an initial 6-month deal with an option for another year’s extension.
His Arsenal legacy came crashing down in remarkably short order after falling out with manager Mikel Arteta before Christmas.
As falls from grace go, this is on the dramatic end of the scale. It was only August 2020 when he single handedly won the F.A Cup for Arsenal.
Wearing the iconic number 14 and the captain’s armband, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored twice against Manchester City in the semi final and twice against Chelsea in the final to deliver a trophy in a season which appeared written off after the sacking of Unai Emery and appointment of rookie Arteta.
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At that point, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang could do no wrong. For three seasons, he guaranteed goals for Arsenal. His record speaks to this in spite of his drop off in form. 91 goals in 163 appearances is the record of an elite striker.
It must also be remembered that Aubameyang didn’t join a classic Arsenal team. He arrived 6 months before Arsene Wenger’s reign came crashing down. He continued to score goals throughout the underwhelming Emery era.
When Arteta took over, he spearheaded the F.A Cup win and it’s all too easy to forget how it looked as if Arsenal would go from strength to strength with him in the team.
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Then, he got the dreaded big contract extension. He had a plethora of personal issues to deal with, which certainly impacted his performances as well as the erratic form of an Arsenal team in flux.
The team couldn’t get the ball to him and when it did, it bounced off him like he radiated a repellent magnetic field. We will likely never know which ‘disciplinary issues’ drove the final nails into his Arsenal coffin. What we do know is that Arsenal and the Premier League have lost a genuinely inspirational striker.
