‘A nightmare year’ – Ex-Chelsea flop’s father speaks out on disaster spell at Premier League outfit
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s father has spoken out about his son’s struggles at Premier League outfit Chelsea during the 2022/23 campaign.
Aubameyang’s career trajectory over the past two years has been bizarre, to say the least.
After falling out of favour under Mikel Arteta following several disciplinary issues, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent at the start of 2022 and this enabled him to join Spanish giants Barcelona on a free transfer.
The forward actually performed pretty well for Barcelona as he scored 13 goals in his 23 appearances, but he has made available for transfer last summer following the arrival of Robert Lewandowski.
The 34-year-old was pursued by Thomas Tuchel last summer but shortly after his move to Chelsea, the German head coach (who worked with the striker at Borussia Dortmund) was sacked.
This poor start set the tone for a disastrous spell at Stamford Bridge. In his 21 appearances across all competitions, Aubameyang only managed to score three goals.
His father – Pierre-Francois Aubameyang – has now claimed that the broken jaw he suffered before joining Chelsea made it so it “could only be a nightmare year”.
“His jaw was broken by robbers at his home in Barcelona while trying to protect his wife and children,” Pierre-Francois told L’Equipe. “At Chelsea, he played with a mask at the start. It could only be a nightmare year.
“Now it’s over. He has a smile. He knows that I’m seeing the light again because I can walk and run since my last operation. And he’s signing for [Marseille]. It is a big relief after the nightmare year that he experienced.”
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Pierre-Francois has also confirmed that his son snubbed interest from the Saudi Pro League after Marseille expressed their interest in signing him.
“There was contact with Saudi Arabia, but when [Marseille] come forward… who hasn’t dreamed of playing for this club? Especially in Africa. I keep receiving messages from back home.”
Aubameyang has penned a three-year deal with the Ligue 1 outfit and ex-Chelsea man Tony Cascarino reckons they have been foolish to do so.
“It is a strange one, three year deal. He is 34 years old, takes him to 37,” Cascarino told talkSPORT. “Honestly, I have not seen the player that shone for Arsenal when he signed just before he got his massive contract, he was a fabulous talent.
“I feel Marseille have got caught in the memory of a player that was once brilliant. He has never felt to me, especially in the last 18 months or two years, that he has that hunger in his belly.
“Watching him for Chelsea, he has been anonymous in games. Look, he wasn’t getting picked and he may have been unfit. But when he was asked to make an impact, he was on the fringe.”
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