Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has opened up about his Chelsea nightmare and how things went wrong for him at Stamford Bridge.
After winning the FA Cup and signing a new contract with Arsenal in 2020, Aubameyang terminated that deal less than 18 months later, due to a falling out with manager Mikel Arteta.
The Gabonese goal machine, whose £55.86m Gunners move means he is still one of the top 100 most expensive players of all time, left North London on a free to Barcelona – but wound up at Chelsea that same year to the ire of the Emirates Stadium.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang claims “for me it was different” at Chelsea after leaving Arsenal
Aubameyang netted 13 times in 24 games in an impressive few months at Camp Nou, but with Barça bringing in Robert Lewandowski, manager Xavi Hernandez had no room for Auba, who was offered a return to England with Chelsea, thanks to his former mentor, Thomas Tuchel.
Speaking in a YouTube stream, Aubameyang said that linking up with his former Borussia Dortmund boss Tuchel was “a f**king big mistake” – with the pair's reunion laasting just one match before the German was sacked by the West Londoners' new owners, BlueCo.
“I had a bad moment in Barcelona. I had a home break-in and Barça needed to sell a player – me or Memphis Depay – and the only thing that was on the table was Chelsea.
“So I said, ‘OK, for my family, I will move away, even if it's Chelsea.’ I was thinking maybe it will be OK, Olivier Giroud went from Arsenal to Chelsea and he had no problems. But for me it was different.”
Presumably speaking about the backlash that he faced from Gooners, Aubameyang was involved in a BT Sport promo for the network's coverage of Arsenal's trip to Chelsea in the autumn of 2022, claiming the move was, “nothing personal” – but after Gabriel scored the winner for Arteta's side at Stamford Bridge, he posted the phrase on social media in an indirect response to his former captain.
Reflecting now, Aubameyang says that he didn't enjoy his time across the capital, which only lasted a season and saw him excluded from the Blues' Champions League knockout squad under Graham Potter.
“The manner in which I was received by both the players and the staff, at Chelsea, the context was a bit different,” the now-Marseille man explained, “Because I arrived at Chelsea in no small part due to Thomas Tuchel, and a week later, he had been sacked.”
“So the two contexts were not at all similar, it was not easy for me, and that had an influence. From there I basically didn’t play anymore. And then later there were problems of a different nature that were not my fault.”
Aubameyang's time at the top looked to be over after just three goals in all competitions back in England – but he's since enjoyed two fruitful spells in the south of France in between a term in the Saudi Pro League.
Chelsea are back in Premier League action after the international break, when they travel to Burnley.
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