Aubameyang joins FOURTH club in 18 months as Chelsea give striker away

Robin Bairner

• 21 Jul 2023 18:36 BST
• 3 min read

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has completed his move to Marseille from Chelsea – his third transfer in as many windows.

Chelsea have been eager to shed Aubameyang this summer as he did not fit into the plans of manager Mauricio Pochettino, with the Blues having released him from his contract to join Marseille as a free agent.

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The 34-year-old has joined the Ligue 1 club on a contract of undisclosed length and replaces Alexis Sanchez, who enjoyed a successful one-season stay at Stade Velodrome.

“Olympique de Marseille announces today the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The striker joined the Olympian club after the success of his medical examination. (…) OM welcomes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” the Ligue 1 side announced.

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Aubameyang has cut a controversial figure in recent seasons, notably leaving Arsenal following a dispute with manager Mikel Arteta in January 2022, a switch prompted by the forward flying to Barcelona to orchestrate a transfer.

But if Aubameyang, who started his career with Milan before loans at Dijon, Lille and Monaco, had hoped that would bring a sense of calmness to his career, it instead brought only turbulence. This is a successful spell on the field with Barcelona, where he scored 13 goals in 24 appearances.

He would be shipped out of Camp Nou last summer because of the arrival of Robert Lewandowski and the club’s tight financial position, but not before he had been attacked in his own home by burglars, causing the player significant facial injuries.

Aubameyang’s history with Arsenal meant that his switch to Chelsea was a controversial transfer, particularly as videos emerged on social media of the striker’s whole family wearing the kit of the Blues at a barbecue.

But his stay at Chelsea proved an unhappy one, too. Aubameyang failed to win a spot in the plans of Graham Potter and was left out of the Champions League squad in the second half of the season, while Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival this summer has not sparked an unlikely revival in his fortunes.

Aubameyang has, therefore, moved back to Ligue 1 a decade after leading Saint-Etienne for Borussia Dortmund and at 34 will be hoping to finally find some stability at Marseille.