Compared with Morata, who was previously optimistic about joining the team, Aubameyang has never been a favorite for Barca's new strikers.
On Wednesday, Barca officially announced that 32-year-old Gabonese striker Aubameyang will join the team as a free agent, signing a contract until June 2025 with a severance payment of 100 million euros. There is also an option in the contract to terminate the agreement early from 30 June 2023. According to the official website of La Liga, the shirt number submitted by Barca for Aubameyang is 25.
Born on 18 June 1989 in Mayenne, France, Aubameyang played for and captained the Gabonese national team, but Aubameyang has a triple citizenship of Gabon, France and Spain. After working with clubs including AC Milan as a teenager, Aubameyang made his first-team debut in Ligue 2 Dijon in 2008–09, which attracted the attention of several Ligue 1 clubs, and then went on loan to Lille, Monaco and Saint-Etienne.
Aubameyang's career culminated in 2013 when he joined Borussia Dortmund, where the Gabonese Panthers scored 141 goals and was named the 2017 Bundesliga Top Scorer with 31 goals. In the winter of 2018, Aubameyang joined Arsenal, and the first Gunners won the 2019 Premier League Golden Boot with a production of 22 goals in the entire season.
After landing at Camp Nou, Aubameyang's goal was extremely pragmatic, "I am very proud, especially my mother is from Spain, so I am proud and happy to be here." My main goal is to help the team return to the Champions League. It is an honour for me to come to this club and I will do my best to help the team. It's a wonderful feeling to be a part of Harvey's squad, everyone knows he's been an unbeatable player before and I'm sure he can lead the team to success. Everyone welcomed me warmly, and as I said before, I was so happy. ”
"I'm already looking forward to stepping into Camp Nou. Barca are one of the biggest clubs in the world and it is a real honour to play here. I have a lot of experience, I have played in important leagues, I came here to help the team, to contribute everything I had. ”
Aubameyang completed his engagement with Arsenal before joining Barca on a free transfer. According to the latest news in The Times, the Gabonese shooter did not take anything like the previous high-spirited William, and in order to release Aubameyang's contract with a weekly salary of up to 350,000 pounds, Arsenal paid him about 7 million pounds in a termination fee.
The contract with Arsenal until 2023 was signed by Aubameyang before the 2020-21 season. At that time, Aubameyang had just helped Arsenal win the FA Cup, and the limelight was unparalleled. As Gunners captain, Aubameyang also received attention from a number of top giants that summer, and he ultimately chose to stay at Arsenal. It was only after the signing of this contract that the status of the Gabonese declined. In the 2020-21 season, Aubameyang scored 14 goals for Arsenal in all competitions, which does not seem bad, but Aubameyang's production has halved compared to the previous year. Off the pitch, his disciplinary problems also began to catch Arteta's attention.
Entering the 2021-22 season, Aubameyang still did not find his best form, and in December, he was internally suspended for violating team rules and stripped of the captain's armband. For this incompetent captain, Arteta finally moved. Aubameyang last played for Arsenal on 5 December away to Everton, and so far this season, Aubameyang's numbers in the Premier League are only 4 goals in 14 games, which is obviously unable to meet Arsenal's requirements. Before playing with Gabon in the Africa Cup of Nations, Aubameyang found out about heart problems and missed the subsequent African Cup of Nations.
After the winter window began, the possibility of Aubameyang leaving Arsenal was widely discussed, he has been in the list of Barca looking for a gun, but compared to Morata, who is optimistic about joining Morata, Aubameyang has never been a favorite for Barca's new signings, until recent days, rumors that Aubameyang may join Barca have begun to circulate frequently, and on the day the transfer window is closed (January 31), Aubameyang even unexpectedly appeared in Barcelona, when Arsenal and Barcelona have not yet agreed on a deal. I was ready to attend the pre-contract medical examination with the Red and Blues.
But less than eight hours after the winter transfer window closed, Aubameyang's move to Barca took a sudden turn for the worse. Athletic network once reported that the negotiations between Arsenal and Barca over Aubameyang's salary distribution have broken down. The medical examination scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Beijing time has also been cancelled, but from the player's point of view, Aubameyang's own willingness to join Barca is still very strong. According to The News of Corbé Radio, the Agent of the Gabonese has never given up the possibility of facilitating this transaction, but has been staying in the office of Barça Sports Director Alemani to negotiate, and finally at about 9 o'clock local time, the news of the basic conclusion of the negotiations finally came out, and Aubameyang subsequently passed the medical examination smoothly.
In this regard, Aubameyang managed to terminate his contract with Arsenal before the transfer window closed and signed barca as a free agent without time constraints. It became Barca's fourth signing in the winter transfer period, after Alves, Ferran Torres and Adama Traore. According to World Sports, Aubameyang made huge concessions on salary in order to join Barca, and his monthly salary in the second half of the season was even only 5,000 euros. Due to the failure to sell Dembele in the winter window, Barca did not have enough salary space to match Aubameyang's regular salary level, and the players had to cut their salaries to join and wait until next season to be compensated. Just counting the previous few transfers, young player Felan Torres is originally a winger, and Adama Traore's goal rate is also very low, coupled with Aubameyang, who recently lost his shooting boot at Arsenal, whether Barca's lack of skills can really be solved, and it is still a huge question mark.
Wen | Holden Romero
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