In what may prove to be the most critical signature that Arsenal capture this window, captain and star player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang puts his signature on the line and agreed to a 3 year deal that will “enable him to be the highest paid player”.
During the final stretch of the season, one of the questions on everyone’s mind revolved around Aubameyang’s future. While there was talk and chances that Arsenal would be forced into finding a buyer which may have provided funds for their much needed rebuild, it quickly became clear that the price of Arsenal’s rebuild and the value that Aubameyang and his goals provide the team, vastly outweigh the offers that were coming their way for the prized Gabonese star. Not to mention, the cost of replacing Aubameyang’s production could be up to three times the amount they would receive.
Quickly the narrative changed not to deciding whether the best route is keep or sell, but deciding what the best tactics were to convince the 31-year-old goal scoring machine that the late years of his career were best spent in the red and white of north London.
Aubameyang’s career has been filled with the type of stat lines and scoring efficiency that will have Aubameyang talked about for years to come. With 144 Bundesliga appearances and 98 goals, and 85 Premier League appearances and 54 goals – Aubameyang’s scoring efficiency is absolutely remarkable. At the age of 31, Aubameyang made 44 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal scoring a 29 goals including 2 in the FA Cup semifinals and 2 in the FA Cup finals to bring home the cup.
Overall, his time at Arsenal has been filled with that level of scoring efficiency. 109 total appearances for the club and and astounding 70 goals and 15 assists while arguably playing out of his preferred central striker role. However, that kind of scoring has not yielded the type of silverware that often comes with these kind of numbers. It’s for that reason that the temptation to spend his remaining years at a club closer to winning titles was understandable.
But the offer from Arsenal is good, he enjoys life in London and at the Emirates, and coming off the FA Cup win, the belief in what Mikel Arteta is trying to accomplish with Arsenal has never been higher.
Arsenal have had a chaotic summer and brief break to say the least. From redundancies and the decimation of the current scouting department, to player outrages over over the redundancies, Ozil’s interview with David Ornstein in The Athletic splitting the opinions of supporters once more, Willian’s signature as Arsenal’s first signing of the summer, capped off by the shock reports that Arsenal were investigating the finite details of Pepe’s deal leading to Raul’s removal. Gabriel was signed and eventually announced, and attention shifted too Aubameyang.
The not-so-hidden, hidden meaning of Aubameyang’s tweets of hourglasses have led Gunner fans around the world on an impatient hunt, trying to figure out when a formal announcement would be made. The excitement reached it’s peak when Auba tweeted:
and Arsenal’s official page changed their bio to..
Alas… it is done. Finished. Arsenal have their man and all will be hoping for more goals like his first notch of the new season against Fulham. A picture perfect curler into the far corner that seems to be becoming vintage Auba.
Signing Aubameyang not only provides Arsenal with a trustworthy goalscorer for this season, next season, and hopefully many more – it allots Arteta and Arsenal a little bit more patience with their rebuild. They will certainly be expected to make one more significant signing this window, but if they are financially incapable of making two, Aubameyang offers serious offensive production to help make up the gap.
In a period of time when balancing urgency and patience with their rebuild to ensure the club and team-build doesn’t fall into the same trap of poor band-aid purchases is crucial to the coming years’ attempt at regaining financial security through the Champions League, making a signing like this truly could be the most important signing of the year.
Great to have you on board Aubameyang!!
Gunner Thoughts 