Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a new Olympique de Marseille player and his father could not be happier that his Chelsea ‘nightmare’ is over.
The 34-year-old left Chelsea after one season which saw him make only 21 appearances in all competitions. He joined the Blues from Barcelona thanks to the Catalan giants’ well-publicised financial struggles. Now, he has completed a return to the league where he got his big break in football to play for Marseille.
The Olympians signed him for three years on a free transfer and the France-born former Gabon international is set to join them for pre-season preparations soon.
Pierre-Francois Aubameyang spoke to French publication L’Equipe on Tuesday after his son’s transfer was official. He believes that returning to France to play for Marseille will help his son’s career recover from the nightmare year he had at Stamford Bridge.
“His jaw was broken by robbers at his home in Barcelona while trying to protect his wife and children.” Pierre-Francois began. “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.”
Pierre-Francois Aubameyang went on to claim that his son signing for Marseille has pleased many back home in Gabon because of the club’s affiliation with African players.
“He’s signing for (Marseille). It is a big relief after the nightmare year that he experienced (at Chelsea),” the senior Aubamyang added. “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 is set for his second Ligue 1 debut, 10 years after his last match. He represented LOSC Lille, AS Monaco and Saint-Etienne. It was with the latter that he gained prominence, which led Borussia Dortmund to sign him in 2013.
He enjoyed the best years of his career at the Westfalenstadion and was impressive enough to bag a Bundesliga Player of the Year award in 2016. After five seasons, 144 league games and 98 goals, some of which won him the Torjägerkanone award for the German Bundesliga top scorer, he moved to Arsenal.
His first two years at Arsenal were great but the arrival of Mikel Arteta and the assumption of the captaincy role served to bring his time at the Emirates to an end. He spent a successful six months at Barcelona who had to sell him to Chelsea to help balance their books.
Aubameyang will now look towards completing his three-year contract with Marseille and possibly choose the highly-lucrative Saudi Pro League as his next destination.
