Chelsea star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has hit a new low nearly 12 months since leaving Arsenal. The forward was substituted as a substitute against Manchester City on Thursday.
Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal of the match to cut the Citizens’ gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal. The Gunners now have a five-point lead over the defending champions at the top of the table. Whereas Chelsea have fallen to 10th place, a distant 19 points behind.
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The Stamford Bridge natives are actually now as close to the relegation zone as they are to the Champions League places. Graham Potter’s team are 10 points away from the top four and the bottom three after 17 games. And Chris Sutton fears what is next for Aubameyang.
Aubameyang hits an ‘embarrassing’ new low almost 12 months since leaving Arsenal
It is almost 12 months since Arsenal axed Aubameyang and Sutton now fears for his future at Chelsea under Potter. His past year also included a short stint with FC Barcelona before returning to the Premier League with the Gunners’ London rivals for £12m last September.
Mikel Arteta showed Aubameyang the door at Emirates Stadium on February 1, 2022 after Arsenal terminated his contract. The Times reported they paid the Gabon forward £7m to tear up the rest of his £350k-a-week deal. Arsenal had also stripped him of their captaincy.
Arsenal cited ‘his latest disciplinary breach’ as the reason behind removing Aubameyang as their captain in a statement. The 33-year-old had been in north London since January 2018 when Arsene Wenger paid Borussia Dortmund a then club-record £56m to sign the striker.
A four-year stint in red saw the 73-cap international net 92 goals in 163 games and register 21 assists. But he only struck 14 goals in his final 43 Premier League outings, including four in 14 in 2021/22. His last match was a five-minute cameo at Everton on December 6, 2021.
Barcelona then swooped to sign Aubameyang following his release by Arsenal and signed him to an 18-month contract. His terms featured a €100m (£88.5m) release clause, as well. Yet the Blaugrana soon sold him to Chelsea after 13 goals in 24 outings in all competitions.
Potter substitutes his striker after substituting him on for Chelsea vs Man City
Aubameyang has now made 15 appearances for Chelsea after coming on as a substitute at home to Manchester City. The Gabon captain replaced Raheem Sterling after five minutes following the forward’s leg injury. But Aubameyang could not get just his fourth Blues goal.
He has also not scored a Premier League goal for Chelsea since his top-flight debut for the club. And worse for Aubameyang, Potter substituted his substitute after 63 minutes for ex-Arsenal prospect Omari Hutchinson. He came on five minutes after Mahrez found the net.
Potter’s decision to replace Aubameyang has left former Celtic striker Sutton wondering if the Blues boss feels he can still trust the attacker. The former Gunners captain’s efforts left Sutton in sheer dismay at how drastically lacklustre his dire performance was on Thursday.
“I thought Aubameyang was hopeless in truth, [he] offered very little,” Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “The Aubameyang substitution is really telling, it’s embarrassing. He’s been hauled off and rightly so.”
Sutton added: “Aubameyang looked like he didn’t want to be here this evening. I wonder whether Graham Potter is thinking: ‘How can I play Aubameyang again in a Chelsea jersey after how woeful he was?’
“I’m always wary to criticise players for lack of effort or poor body language but Aubameyang absolutely epitomised that. I thought he was woeful and hopeless and didn’t give anywhere near enough. He looked disinterested.”
Aubameyang is under contract with Chelsea through to June 2024 but has clearly hit a new low since leaving Arsenal. Though the question is where can the 33-year-old go from here?
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