Chelsea signed this Thursday for two seasons and 12 million euros to FC Barcelona’s Gabonese striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, seven months after his arrival in the Spanish LaLiga from England.
The deal, announced after the official closing of the market window, returns the 33-year-old Gabonese striker to London, where he played for Arsenal until he left in February at odds with manager Mikel Arteta.
After half a season at Barcelona with a remarkable performance, Aubameyang will be reunited at Chelsea with Thomas Tuchel, the coach who made him shine the most at Borussia Dortmund.
“I’m very happy. It’s an honor to be part of this team and I can’t wait to get started,” the striker said on the Chelsea website. “I have unfinished business with the Premier League and it’s good to be back,” he added.
In Barcelona, Aubameyang scored 13 goals in 24 games, becoming Barça’s top scorer alongside Memphis Depay and a key figure in the comeback for Xavi Hernández’s team, which went from sixth to second in the league.
Although the coach had him as a substitute for the Polish star Robert Lewandowski, signed in this market, the club wanted to find a way out for him to straighten out their precarious economic situation.
The Spanish press points out that the operation also includes the arrival in Barcelona of the Spanish left-back Marcos Alonso, who would have been cut off from the ‘Blues’.
Aubameyang is the latest splurge on the market for Chelsea’s new American owners, who have more than 200 million in the signings of striker Raheem Sterling, central defenders Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana and winger Marc Cucurella, among others.
The squad had a vacancy up front after the €20 million sale of German Timo Werner to Leipzig and the one-season loan of Belgian Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan.
Despite the outlay on transfers, Chelsea’s start to the season is modest, with two wins, two losses and a draw in the first five Premier League matches.
