Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has just signed a new three-year contract with Arsenal, and here we look at exactly how important the Gabon international has been to Arsenal since his arrival in January 2018.
2017-18
Signed by Arsene Wenger for a then club-record fee, Aubameyang moved to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund on the final day of the January transfer window for a reported £56 million.
While he was cup-tied in Europe, Aubameyang soon set about showing the Premier League just how clinical he was in front of goal.
He hit 10 goals in 13 league appearances, only Alexandre Lacazette – signed the previous summer – scored more for the Gunners, and even then he managed 14 from 32 games.
Scoring on his debut in a 5-1 win over Everton, the former Dortmund man would also have the honour of notching the last goal of Wenger’s 22-year tenure in a 1-0 victory at Huddersfield.
The 10 goals he scored helped Arsenal to four points, but Wenger’s side were nowhere near a top-four finish despite Aubameyang’s impressive antics upon arriving.
2018-19
Unai Emery was the man chosen to replace Wenger and he, too, would reap the benefits of Aubameyang’s prowess.
Having had the back end of the previous campaign to find his feet, the 2018-19 season was another one full of goals for the striker.
His 22 goals from 30 Premier League starts saw his share the Golden Boot with Liverpool duo Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah and took Arsenal within a point of a return to the top four.
Those goals were also scored in vital games and earned Emery’s side 19 additional points over the course of the season – the difference between earning Europa League qualification or not.
He was also eligible for that season’s Europa League and again shone, eight goals in 10 starts – including a semi-final hat-trick – carrying Arsenal to the final, where they were beaten 4-1 by Chelsea.
2019-20
With Emery sacked in December and Granit Xhaka having earlier been stripped of the captaincy, new head coach Mikel Arteta and skipper Aubameyang were tasked with turning Arsenal’s season around.
His 11 league goals until Arteta’s arrival had already been key to earning Arsenal 12 points and he would double that tally once the Spaniard had taken over.
But it would be in the FA Cup, a competition in which he appeared only once across the previous two seasons, where Aubameyang showed his true worth.
With no European qualification through the Premier League having finished eighth, Aubameyang took the bull by the horns in the FA Cup.
As questions over his future dominated most of Arteta’s media conferences, Aubameyang scored both goals in the semi-final victory over Manchester City and then repeated the feat as Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the final.
2020-21
Aubameyang hit the ground running when the current season started belatedly in September.
His early goal – a fine curling strike – in the curtain-raising Community Shield clash with Premier League champions ensured the match would go to penalties, with the Gabonese firing home the decisive spot kick as the Gunners claimed the first silverware of the new domestic campaign.
It was new signings Willian and Gabriel ran the show in Arsenal’s opening league fixture at Fulham, with the former sending in a 57th-minute cross for Aubameyang to round off the scoring in a comfortable 3-0 away triumph.
A successful start on the pitch was then bolstered by the long-awaited confirmation of his new long-term deal.
