Arsenal have seen an array of world-class talent make north London their home over the years, with some living up to expectation and some not so much.
The Gunners are in the process of showcasing their new wave of superstars, as Mikel Arteta continues to gun for glory and major silverware with his generation of heroes at the Emirates.
So many with legendary status have come and gone over the years at Arsenal, not helped by their assumed captain's curse, which has seen the best at the time leave soon after taking the armband.
From William Gallas to even Thierry Henry, many have fallen victim to the curse after being handed captaincy, with Arteta hoping that the feat of bad luck will end at Martin Odegaard, who was named skipper last summer.
In recent years, the theme has continued, with Odegaard being selected to take the role from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was ironically handed it from fellow cursed captain Granit Xhaka in 2019.
For whatever reason, there has been a narrative of poor captains at Arsenal, whether it be poor performance, attitude or desire to leave, being handed the armband hasn’t seemed to hold the honour that it does to some.
It would be difficult to discuss the Gunners’ captains of Arteta’s era without delving into the history of Aubameyang at the Emirates, with the striker arriving as royalty and leaving far from his throne.
When did Arsenal sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang?
In January 2018, Arsenal unveiled Aubameyang as their new addition, bringing joy to those associated with the club with reference to their lack of presence leading the line for years prior.
Captured for a club-record fee at the time of £60m, the former Borussia Dortmund hero arrived in north London with a stellar reputation due to his goal-scoring proficiency throughout his career, including bagging 141 goals in just 213 games in Germany.
The Gunners had only signed fellow striker Alexandre Lacazette in the summer of 2017, handing those at the Emirates a sense of belief in their squad as the goals looked as though they’d soon arrive.
What was the reaction when Arsenal signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang?
The stage was set for Aubameyang to eclipse those before him, as he took Thierry Henry’s number 14 shirt and scored on his debut in the fashion of a true poacher, resulting in Arsene Wenger expressing his delight with the Gabonese gem’s arrival at his former club.
As relayed by The Guardian, Wenger tipped the forward to follow in Henry’s footsteps, calling comparisons to the French wizard a “good example to follow”.
The undefeated manager of 2003/04 went on to dub the £60m man as “tremendous”, hyping up his calibre by saying, “you don’t score by coincidence for so many years”, which wasn’t the end of the high praise for the new arrival.
A few years down the line, Gary Neville formed another comparison to Henry when analysing a goal scored by Aubameyang, as relayed by the Daily Mail.
“This is Thierry Henry, everything about it. As he went through on goal you just imagined the great French striker sprinting down on goal, setting it out to that far post. It’s Aubameyang now, wonderful.”
All the signs were there that the striker could in some ways replicate the quality and impact of Arsenal’s record goal scorer, and for the majority of his time in red and white, he was adored in a similar sense to the World Cup winner.
How many goals did Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang score at Arsenal?
Aubameyang left Arsenal 136 goals shy of Henry’s record of 228, netting 92 goals in 163 games for the Gunners over his four-year stay.
At the end of his debut half-season, the Gabon international had scored ten league goals in only 13 appearances, which was a subtle sign of things to come as he claimed the golden boot in his first full campaign in 2018/19.
The forward scored 22 league goals that season, a tally that was replicated the campaign after as he scored another 22 in the 2019/20 term to cement himself as one of the top sharpshooters in the Premier League.
Things couldn’t get better for Arsenal and their striker in 2020 as he signed a new three-year deal, after being named as club captain in the winter of 2019 following Granit Xhaka’s stripping of the honour.
How much did Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cost Arsenal?
Prior to signing his new contract, Aubameyang was earning £180k-per-week, amounting to £9.3m-per-year in wages alone.
The sum increased when he penned his refreshed deal, taking his salary to a monstrous £13m-per-year, equalling a weekly wage of £250k.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's career earnings
Club
Year
Weekly Wage
Borussia Dortmund
2014-2015
£40,000
Borussia Dortmund
2015-2016
£55,316
Borussia Dortmund
2016-2017
£79,237
Arsenal
2017-2020
£180,000
Arsenal
2020-2022
£250,000
Barcelona
2022
£41,529
Chelsea
2022-2023
£160,000
All figures via Capology
When adding up his wages over his time in north London, the figure amounts to around £52m, which when you add his transfer fee of £60m, reveals that Arsenal made an expenditure of around £112m to maintain their star striker at the Emirates.
Was he worth it?
Everything was looking rosy for both club and player following his renewal, until it all went very bleak very quickly.
Just two years after he was handed the captaincy due to Xhaka having the privilege revoked, Arteta dealt Aubameyang the same blow, taking the armband away from him due to disciplinary breaches.
The antics between player and manager away from the pitch resulted in a dip in form on the field, as the forward scored just ten goals in the 2020/21 league campaign, followed by scoring four the season after.
There was a clear breakdown in the relationship between Arteta and Aubameyang, which had made fans turn against the striker who seemed to have carried his “crazy boy” image from Dortmund to London, as he described himself in his farewell post to his former club.
In the winter transfer window of 2022, Arsenal mutually agreed to terminate the former captain’s contract, seeing him join Barcelona on a free transfer.
On his departure, Arteta told the media that his former striker’s “trajectory at the club and the importance of his goals was unquestionable”, however, the time was right for him to leave.
Aubameyang gave the Gunners plenty of things to cheer about during his time at the Emirates, reinstating the goals and the thrill of having a capable striker to the fans, yet his exit left a sour taste, with matters made worse by his moves following his exit.
What is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doing now?
After leaving the club in January 2022, it wasn’t long before the 34-year-old returned to the capital, as he signed for Chelsea in September in a transfer that left followers of the Gunners stunned.
To the joy of those bewildered by his decision, the Gabon international left the Blues after 21 appearances and just three goals, with him now representing Marseille in Ligue 1 with a market value of just €5m (£4.3m) – according to CIES Football Observatory.
From a cherished captain likened to Henry, to a villain representing Arsenal’s London rivals, Aubameyang’s trajectory took a sudden turn at the Emirates, as he failed to live up to the expectations he was showered with when he first arrived on English soil.