Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang (born 18 June 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward and is the captain of both English Premier League club Arsenal and Gabon national team. He is considered to be one of the best strikers in the world, known for his pace, finishing, and off-ball movement. Aubameyang plays mainly as a striker but has also been deployed as a wide forward.

Born in Laval, Aubameyang began his senior career at Serie A club Milan, eventually being promoted to the first team in 2008 after impressing as a member of the club's youth setup. However, he never featured for Milan, and instead, began a series of loan spells in France. His loan move to Ligue 1 team Saint-Étienne was made the transfer permanent in 2011. During his time at the club, Aubameyang helped the club win the 2012-13 Coupe de la Ligue and was honoured in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year. Aubameyang joined Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in 2013, were finished as the league's top goalscorer in the 2016–17 season and won the DFB-Pokal title. He also became the club's sixth all-time top goalscorer. In 2018, Aubameyang signed for English team Arsenal in a deal worth £56 million (€64 million), making him the most expensive Gabonese player of all time. In his first full season in England, he won the Premier League Golden Boot (shared with Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah).

Aubameyang made his debut for Gabon national team in 2009 at age 19, and ranks their all-time top goalscorer, having registered 25 goals in 63 games. He has played in three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics. For his performances at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Aubameyang was named African Footballer of the Year, becoming the first Gabonese player to win the award, and the second European-born player after Frédéric Kanouté.

Club career

A.C Milan

Aubameyang joined A.C. Milan's youth team in January 2007. In August, he was part of the squad that finished fourth in the inaugural Champions Youth Cup held in Malaysia, where he made a name for himself and attracted the attention of scouts internationally. He scored against every opponent Milan played, finishing with seven goals in six matches.

2008–09: Loan to Dijon

For the 2008–09 season, Aubameyang was loaned out to Dijon in France to gain first-team experience. His performances there led him to appear in World Soccer's Talent Scout the section in Summer 2009. He finished with a total of ten goals and two assists in all competitions including two goals in Coupe de la Ligue.

2009–10: Loan to Lille

On 24 June 2009, it was announced Ligue 1 club Lille had decided to sign Aubameyang on loan. Relative to his previous season, however, Aubameyang did not perform as well, scoring just two goals in 14 appearances, four as a starter.

2010–11: Loan to Monaco

For the 2010–11 season, Aubameyang was loaned for the season to Monaco. On 21 August 2010, he scored his first goal for Monaco in an away match against Lens, then scored again on 29 August at home to Auxerre, where Monaco won 2–0. In January 2011, after six months with the club, Aubameyang was loaned to Saint-Étienne until the end of the 2010–11 season, finishing the season with four goals and three assists. In July 2011, the loan was extended for the entire 2011–12 season.

Saint-Étienne

On 22 December 2011, Aubameyang signed with Saint-Étienne on a permanent deal. He was quickly added to the starting line up and was given the number 7 jersey. In February 2012, he scored his first hat-trick against Lorient. He became an integral part of the squad, scoring half of the team's away goals during the season and went on to be Ligue 1's top goalscorer with 16 goals.

During the warm-up in a match against Lyon, he wore a £2,500 pair of Swarovski crystals encrusted boots. On 20 April 2013, Aubameyang was in the starting line-up for Saint-Étienne in the 2013 Coupe de la Ligue Final. Les Verts won the match 1–0 with a goal from Brandão to give Aubameyang his first major trophy as a professional footballer. He finished the season with 18 goals and seven assists in all competitions.

In the 2012–13 season, Aubameyang ended second in the competition's top-goalscorers list, scoring 19 goals and finishing behind only Zlatan Ibrahimović. From his 37 appearances, he also provided eight assists. The season was widely regarded as his breakout year—he appeared in the Ligue 1 team of the season and he won the Ligue 1 African Player of the Year award.

Borussia Dortmund

2013–14: DFL-Supercup

On 4 July 2013, Aubameyang joined 2012–13 Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund on a five-year contract. He made his competitive debut for his new club on 27 July 2013 against Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup, replacing Jakub Błaszczykowski for the last 18 minutes of Dortmund's 4–2 victory, assisting Dortmund's final goal, scored by Marco Reus. On 10 August, Aubameyang made his Bundesliga debut and scored a hat-trick against FC Augsburg, including a goal from his first shot in the league. In the process, Aubameyang also became the first Gabonese player to appear in the Bundesliga. On 27 November, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–1 win against Napoli in the group stage of the 2013–14 competition. He later took a penalty against 1860 Munich that propelled Dortmund into the next round of the 2013–14 DFB-Pokal, finishing the year with 13 league goals and 16 goals in all competitions.

2014–15: Second DFL-Supercup

On 13 August 2014, Aubameyang assisted Borussia Dortmund's first goal and scored the second goal in a 2–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup. After scoring the goal, he celebrated by putting on a Spider-Man mask. In Dortmund's next match, a 4–1 win over Stuttgarter Kickers in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, Aubameyang scored two-second-half goals and provided the assist for Adrián Ramos' goal. On 13 September, Aubameyang scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season, netting Dortmund's final goal of their 3–1 win over SC Freiburg. Three days later, Aubameyang scored Dortmund's second goal in a 2–0 win over future club Arsenal in the first group match of the Champions League.

Aubameyang ended his second season in Dortmund with 25 goals from 46 appearances, including one in the 2015 DFB-Pokal Final, where Dortmund was defeated 3–1 by VfL Wolfsburg at the Olympiastadion.

2015–16: League runner-up

On 31 July 2015, Aubameyang signed a new contract to last until 2020, saying, "Every part of me wants to be here and I have never wanted to leave."  On 20 August, he scored a brace as Dortmund came from 0–3 down to win 3–4 at Odds BK in the first leg of their Europa League play-off. By scoring in Dortmund's 1–1 draw with 1899 Hoffenheim on 23 September, Aubameyang became the first player in Bundesliga history to score in each of his team's opening six matches of a season. He later extended this record to eight matches, scoring in the team's next two fixtures against Darmstadt 98 and Bayern Munich, before failing to score for the first time in the Bundesliga season in a 2–0 win at Mainz 05.

On 22 October, Aubameyang scored a hat-trick in a UEFA Europa League match against Gabala of Azerbaijan. Three days later, he scored another hat-trick in a 5–1 defeat of Augsburg at the Westfalenstadion. On 8 November, Aubameyang scored the winning goal for Dortmund in a 3–2 Revierderby victory over rivals FC Schalke 04. At the halfway stage of the Bundesliga season, Aubameyang was the league's top scorer with 18 goals from 17 appearances.

On 30 January 2016, Aubameyang scored his 19th and 20th league goals of the season to give Dortmund a 2–0 home victory over FC Ingolstadt. Aubameyang reached 30 goals in all competitions in a 3–1 victory over VfB Stuttgart in the quarter-final of the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal. In addition to scoring himself, he assisted the side's other two goals scored by Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. On 10 March 2016, Aubameyang scored for Borussia in their 3–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 first-leg. A week later, he scored both goals in the 2–1 second-leg victory at White Hart Lane, taking him to 35 goals for the season.^[  In scoring two goals in a 5–1 win against VfL Wolfsburg on 30 April, Aubameyang reached 25 goals in the Bundesliga season, thus ending as the league's second-top scorer behind Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich.

2016–17: Bundesliga top goalscorer and DFB-Pokal

Aubameyang began his 2016–17 season in the Bundesliga with a double against Mainz 05 on 27 August in a 2–1 victory, while also scoring twice against VfL Wolfsburg on 20 September. Aubameyang scored three days later against recently promoted SC Freiburg, bringing his season total to 5, into a tie atop the scoring charts with Lewandowski early in the season. Following an injury to Marcel Schmelzer, Aubameyang wore the captain's armband for Dortmund for the first time on 22 October, also scoring the goal in the 3–3 draw at FC Ingolstadt.

Aubameyang also got off to an excellent start in Dortmund's Champions League group stage matches, scoring in each of their first legs matches as Dortmund were joint top of their group with Real Madrid. However, Aubameyang was left out of the squad by Thomas Tuchel for their return leg against Sporting CP on 2 November due to an "internal issue". It turned out that he received a one-game suspension for breaking club rules, by travelling to Milan instead of staying in Dortmund. Expected to return that weekend at Hamburger SV, Aubameyang exploded with a four-goal performance in a 5–2 victory, they're first in five tries in the Bundesliga, while also assisting Ousmane Dembélé for Dortmund's final goal.

On 19 November, Aubameyang scored the only goal of a 1–0 win over Bayern Munich at the Westfalenstadion. This was Dortmund's first Klassiker victory in the league since April 2014. On 7 December, Aubameyang scored Borussia's first goal in a 2–2 comeback draw with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to secure qualification to the next stage as group winners. On 16 December, Aubameyang scored his 100th goal for Borussia Dortmund in a 2–2 draw away to 1899 Hoffenheim.

On 4 March 2017, Aubameyang passed 20 Bundesliga goals for the second consecutive season with two goals in a 6–2 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen. Four days later, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Benfica to put Dortmund into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. On 20 May, Aubameyang scored twice in Borussia's final day defeat of Werder Bremen to end the season as the Bundesliga's top scorer with 31 goals. In the final of the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal on 27 May 2017 he scored the winning goal, a penalty, as Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2–1.

Arsenal

On 31 January 2018, Aubameyang signed for Premier League club, Arsenal, for a then-club-record fee, reported being £56 million.

2017–18: Debut season

On 3 February, Aubameyang made his debut for Arsenal against Everton in the Premier League in a 5–1 home victory, scoring the team's fourth goal, chipping the ball over a grounded Jordan Pickford.After missing the Europa League matches against Östersunds FK for the Gunners due to being cup-tied, Aubameyang registered his first away goal for the club in the team's 2–1 away defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Aubameyang registered his first assist for the team, setting up Henrikh Mkhitaryan's goal in a 3–0 win over Watford, Aubameyang also scored the Gunners' second goal (which was assisted by Mkhitaryan), rounding the goalkeeper.

Aubameyang kept up his fine goalscoring form by scoring twice in Arsenal's 3–0 home win against Stoke City. Aubameyang's goals against Stoke (one of which was also his first converted penalty for the club) made him the first player to score five times in his first six games for the club. He netted his second brace for Arsenal, in manager Arsène Wenger's final home game for the club, opening and closing the scoring, whilst also assisting Alex Iwobi's goal, in an eventual 5–0 win over Burnley. Aubameyang followed this up by scoring the only goal in Arsenal's 1–0 away win against Huddersfield Town. Aubameyang ended the season with ten goals and four assists in thirteen Premier League games and was the last goalscorer for Arsenal under Arsène Wenger.

2018–19: Premier League Golden Boot

Aubameyang scored his first goal of the new season in a 3–2 away win over Cardiff City. After a flick from Alexandre Lacazette, Aubameyang took a touch before curling the ball past the Cardiff goalkeeper. Aubameyang's strike from outside the box ended his personal run of 76 consecutive goals from inside the box in club football and was also his 150th goal in league football. Aubameyang made his European debut for Arsenal, in the 4–2 home win over Vorskla Poltava, scoring two goals, before being substituted for Mesut Özil in the 57th minute. Aubameyang's goals meant that he had been directly involved in 12 goals in 10 appearances for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Since joining Arsenal in February 2018, Aubameyang has tallied 16 goals in Premier League play. According to Opta statistics, that gives him a minutes per goal ratio of 104.6, which sets the record for the best minutes per goal ratio in Premier League history (minimum 10 goals).

Aubameyang became the first player to reach 10 goals in the Premier League that season, following a brace in Arsenal's 4–2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby. Aubameyang scored the Gunners' opening goal from the penalty spot and later, curled a shot past Hugo Lloris in the second-half; Aubameyang also grabbed an assist for Arsenal's fourth goal, which was Lucas Torreira's first goal for the club. The victory took Arsenal above Tottenham in the Premier League on goal difference. Aubameyang scored his first Arsenal hat-trick in the club's 4–2 win over Valencia. Aubameyang also set up the Gunners' second goal, scored by Alexandre Lacazette. Aubameyang's hat-trick meant that Arsenal reached the Europa League final, making it the club's second European final in thirteen years. It also saw him become the first Arsenal player to score a hat-trick in the semi-finals of a European competition. Aubameyang finished the season with two goals in a 3–1 away win at Burnley, meaning he ended the season sharing the Premier League Golden Boot title with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, on 22 goals.

2019–20

Aubameyang scored his and Arsenal's first the goal of the season in a 1–0 victory over Newcastle United at St James' Park, in which he demonstrated perfect technique to cushion across from Ainsley Maitland-Niles, to slot the ball past Martin Dúbravka, with José Mourinho hailing strike as "a moment of genius". Aubameyang scored his first home goal of the campaign in Arsenal's next game, a 2–1 win over Burnley. Aubameyang scored what turned out to be the winning goal, following an assist from Dani Ceballos. Aubameyang scored his first European goal of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League, as Arsenal won 0–3 away from home on matchday one.

Aubameyang was named the Premier League Player of the Month for September, beating the likes of Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tottenham's Son Heung-min and Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez to the award.

On 5 November 2019, after Granit Xhaka was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy following his angry reaction to getting booed by the Arsenal supporters during their Premier League game against Crystal Palace F.C., the then head coach Unai Emery confirmed that Aubameyang would take over as the new Arsenal captain.

Following the dismissal of head coach Unai Emery, Aubameyang scored both goals in Arsenal's eventual 2–2 draw with Norwich City in interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg's first game in charge. Aubameyang's first goal (a penalty) had to be retaken after VAR discovered there to be encroachment in the penalty area. Aubameyang's first effort was kept out by goalkeeper Tim Krul, however, his second effort (the same side as his previous attempt), was successfully converted.

Aubameyang scored in Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace but was also sent-off for a late the challenge on Palace midfielder Max Meyer. Aubameyang was originally given a yellow card for the tackle by referee Paul Tierney, however, the card was eventually upgraded to a red card, by the VAR, resulting in Aubameyang's first-ever red card for the Gunners and would mean that the striker would miss Arsenal's next three matches against Sheffield United, Chelsea and Arsenal's FA Cup tie against Bournemouth.

Aubameyang scored twice in Arsenal's 3-2 win over Everton to become the joint top scorer in the Premier League, tied on 17 with Leicester’s Jamie Vardy.

International career

Aubameyang was invited to play for Italy U19s after a good season with Dijon, but he debuted for the France under-21 team in February 2009 in a friendly match against Tunisia.

Aubameyang was also eligible to play for Spain because he has Spanish nationality. He decided to represent Gabon because of his father once captained the team, but he maintains a close relationship with Spain and dreams to play in La Liga.

On 25 March 2009, Aubameyang was selected for the Gabon national team and made his debut for the squad. He scored his first goal in a 3–2 victory over Morocco, then scored a goal each in friendly matches against Benin, Togo, Algeria and Senegal.

Aubameyang was a key member of the Gabon national side that reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations as co-hosts of the competition. He netted three goals in total, finishing the tournament as one of the top scorers. On 5 February 2012, he set up the opening goal for his team and hit the post in the quarter-final against Mali. However, the match ended 1–1 after extra time and Aubameyang had his penalty saved in the shootout to decide the game.

In July 2012, Aubameyang represented Gabon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He scored in the team's opening game against Switzerland, which was Gabon's first-ever Olympic goal, and would also prove to be Gabon's only goal of the tournament. They were eliminated in the group stage.

On 15 June 2013, Aubameyang scored a hat-trick of penalty kicks in Gabon's 4–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Niger. He then scored a brace against Burkina Faso in the 2015 Africa A cup of Nations Qualification.

Aubameyang captained Gabon at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, scoring the team's opening goal of the tournament in their 2–0 win over Burkina Faso on 17 January 2015. He also scored a brace against Mali on 25 March 2015. He is Gabon's highest goalscorer. He rejected a callup for a pivotal World Cup qualifier at home to the Ivory Coast, which they lost 3–0.

Personal life

Aubameyang is the son of former Gabonese international Pierre Aubameyang and younger half-brother of Catilina and Willy, who have both played for A.C. Milan youth teams. His mother is Spanish.