It looked at one stage as though Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would become the talisman of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, yet now he is the symbol of a dysfunctional period the Gunners appear to be leaving behind.
Aubameyang signed a new three-year contract with Arsenal in September 2020 — worth an initial £250,000-a-week plus generous add-ons — with the aim of becoming “an Arsenal legend and to maybe leave a legacy.” He certainly left a legacy, although it is more complicated than anyone could have imagined back then.
Following a gradual deterioration in his relationship with Arteta, Aubameyang went from captain to castaway. He was punished, ostracised, and was then allowed to join Barcelona on a free transfer in February, where he spent six months before returning to London on the assumption he could play under one of his former bosses who still admired him, Thomas Tuchel, only for the German to be sacked by Chelsea six days later.
On Sunday, the Blues host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge with a 10-point gap between the two sides, meaning the 33-year-old will come face to face with Arteta and the team it was felt would grow better without him for the first time. The marks from that period are still visible. The tattoos certainly are. Such was the depth of feeling and the speed of transformation that this weekend will likely see Aubameyang line up wearing Chelsea’s No. 9 shirt, with a tattoo on his right arm of himself (together with two his children) wearing Arsenal’s No. 14.
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Even body art was a bone of contention by the end of his time at Arsenal. In February 2021, there were suggestions Aubameyang had broken COVID-19 rules by getting a tattoo on his hand, one of several disciplinary issues which gradually eroded his standing in the squad. Sources told ESPN at the time that there wasn’t one big incident which prompted Arsenal to part with Aubameyang, more a series of minor breaches which undermined the professionalism Arteta was demanding from his squad.
Among the various misdemeanours, Aubameyang was reported to have missed a drug test, turned up late for multiple meetings and, as one source put it, regularly requested time away the group. Some of that was compassionate leave to visit his unwell mother, Margarita, but there was a view inside the club that he was not showing sufficient dedication while also risking COVID-19 complications related to his additional travel. He is generally viewed as a gregarious and popular character, although his flash cars and garish lifestyle can be divisive, especially for those who value humility and discipline.
