Now so long, Aubameyang, it’s time we began to laugh (and not cry)

It was the best of times, and then it was the worst of times: it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Arsenal career.

As the 32-year-old leaves London for Barcelona, he and the fans can look back at happy memories, but also an unsavoury conclusion and lingering thoughts over what might have been.

The symbol of a new era, Aubameyang pulled up in Highbury from Dortmund in January 2018, four months prior to the end of Arsène Wenger’s 22-year reign as manager. Arsenal had broken their record transfer fee for the second time that season in order to land the Gabonese striker, despite them missing out on Champions League football for the first time in 20 years. His arrival coincided with the departure of forwards Alexis Sánchez, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, a trio who had amassed a total of 293 goals for the Gunners. Alongside him joined friend Henrikh Mkhitaryan, whose own announcement video had teased his former teammate’s introduction.

This was a genuinely exciting signing, and proved that Arsenal still had the pull to attract top players. He had finished the previous Bundesliga campaign as leading scorer ahead of Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski and had 21 goals in 24 appearances so far in 2017/18. At 28, he was not a prospect, but a player already in his prime.

First impressions

It started against Everton.

Leading the line at the Emirates, Aubameyang had taken the iconic number 14 shirt made famous in north London by Thierry Henry, while its previous bearer Walcott lined up for the visitors. Thirty-seven minutes in and he had his first goal in the jersey, controlling Mkhitaryan’s through ball and finishing neatly beyond Jordan Pickford. It was the second of the Armenian’s three assists, and early signs indicated that, after the drama and despair surrounding Sánchez’s exit, everything would be alright after all.

He ended the (half) season with ten goals in his first 13 appearances, including the final one of Wenger’s tenure. He could have managed more, had a UEFA rule not prohibited him from turning out in the Europa League in case Arsenal were drawn against Dortmund, who had dropped down from the Champions League. Had he been available, his new side might well have reached the final. Instead, they bowed out at the semi-final stage against Atletico Madrid, and his new manager’s reign ended without a European title.

He also struck up a partnership with fellow forward Alexandre Lacazette. He had been the first of Arsenal’s record signings that season and, given Wenger’s reluctance to field a front two, it seemed as though he would already have to step aside for the latest arrival. A goalless run followed for the Frenchman (not helped by a knee injury), before a game against Stoke offered a glimpse of the friendship to come. Aubameyang had already netted twice to put the hosts 2-0 ahead when Lacazette was taken down inside the area. The Gabonese, who had scored once from the spot that afternoon, was in line for a hat trick in just his seventh appearance for the club. Instead, he offered his new teammate the opportunity to end his drought. Lacazette duly obliged. After Giroud and Walcott, and Mesut Özil and Sánchez, there was a new bromance in town.

New manager, same outcome for Aubameyang

The summer of 2018 saw Wenger replaced by Unai Emery. After difficult opening fixtures against Manchester City and Chelsea, the Gunners went on a 22-game unbeaten run, during which Aubameyang netted 12 times. The tally included memorable braces against Leicester, with both goals coming within five minutes of his introduction from the bench, and Tottenham, where the Gunners came from behind to defeat their neighbours 4-2.

He finished the campaign with 22 league goals, earning him a second Golden Boot in three seasons, but nonetheless Arsenal finished fifth, two points from third. His wait for Champions League football would have to go on as the Gunners were beaten convincingly by Chelsea in the Europa League final. In truth, Emery’s side had made hard work of reaching the showdown, but Aubameyang had contributed six goals in seven starts in the knockout stages, including a semi-final hat trick in Valencia.

He carried over his form into 2019/2020, scoring the winner in each of Arsenal’s first two games as the Gunners started the season with back-to-back victories for the first time in a decade. In October, following an outburst from Granit Xhaka, he was named captain, and had registered ten goals in 16 games when Emery was dismissed in late November.

Life under Arteta – FA Cup glory

In December 2020, Mikel Arteta, himself an Arsenal skipper previously, was named as Emery’s successor. His first match in the dugout was a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth in which Aubameyang netted his side’s equaliser, meaning he had scored in his first appearance under Arteta, Wenger and interim manager Freddie Ljungberg.

He was on the scoresheet again in his next game against Chelsea, too. By the time the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, he had an impressive seven goals in ten games following Arteta’s appointment. Unfortunately, it was the chance he failed to take that made the greatest impact, as a late misfire against Olympiakos resulted in Arsenal’s elimination from the Europa League at the round of 32.

A further five league goals following the resumption meant that Aubameyang ended the Premier League season with 22 goals – the same tally as the season previous, but one too few to earn a second Golden Boot.

The trophy that mattered, though was the FA Cup. After early exits in 2018 and 2019, Arsenal had reached the semi-finals this time around without Aubameyang’s involvement. That changed when the Gunners faced Manchester City at Wembley, where the captain was named in the starting 11. His two goals ensured that the Gunners would return a fortnight later to face Chelsea in the final.

Just as in their Europa League meeting 14 months prior, the result of the final would impact on Arsenal’s participation in European football the following season; this time, though, it was only a place in the Europa League on the line. Chelsea went ahead early on through Aubameyang’s former Dortmund colleague, Christian Pulisic, but the Gabonese had threatened the Blues’ defence on several occasions before Cesar Azpilicueta brought him down just inside the area. He dispatched the resulting penalty for his fourth goal in just three FA Cup appearances.

Had Amazon Prime produced their 2019/2020 ‘All or Nothing’ documentary on Arsenal, rather than Tottenham, this would have been the climax. The Gunners needed a goal - not just to claim a first trophy in three seasons, but also salvage European football in 2020/21. And so it was, with a quarter of the game to go, Héctor Bellerin pushed forward down the right flank and allowed Nicolas Pépé to pick out Aubameyang on the left. He had work to do, but made light work of a feint past Kurt Zouma before a delicate chip that hung in the air before nestling in Willy Caballero’s net. He had won the game for Arsenal and, as captain, followed in Arteta’s footsteps by lifting the FA Cup (sort of).

New contract – and unfamiliar problems

Europa League participation wasn’t the only outcome of the FA Cup triumph, though. The main talking point in the lead-up to the final had been the state of Aubameyang’s contract. His current deal, signed two-and-a-half years earlier, had just twelve months to run and there was little certainty of reaching an agreement on another. It was widely believed that victory at Wembley would help to convince him; indeed, in the post-match interview, Arteta stated confidently that he expected his captain to now put pen to paper.

The next month, he did just that with a three-year deal. The announcement was huge: Arsenal fans found an email in their inbox from the man himself, while an interview with club legend Ian Wright was streamed live from the Emirates pitch. It might have been a new signing, but keeping hold of a player of Aubameyang’s calibre was cause for celebration.

By this point, the 2020/21 season was underway and Aubameyang had added more silverware to the Emirates trophy cabinet. He gave the Gunners the lead against Liverpool in the Community Shield and later put away the decisive penalty in the shootout. Six days later, he scored his side’s third against Fulham in the season’s Premier League opener. As with his goal against Liverpool and the winner against Chelsea, Arsenal had built up play on the right before switching the ball to the left, where Aubameyang was able to take control and finish with aplomb. This was fast becoming a trademark move, and relied on the captain’s efficiency in front of goal.

However, he did not get on the scoresheet in five subsequent league games following his contract extension, when his penalty ensured Arsenal’s first Premier League victory at Old Trafford in 14 years. It proved to be a false dawn: he managed just eight more goals in his side’s remaining 31 league matches, three of which came when the Gunners hosted Leeds.

There was little to explain it, either; his tally of 2.0 shots per 90 was not much lower than his rate of 2.7 in the previous campaign. The shots that used to find the net simply no longer were. There was no luck in the Europa League, either, as he failed to score in six of his eight appearances.

A poor start to the 2021/22 season saw the Gunners lose their first three games. With the mood low, Arteta opted for a strong line-up in his side’s EFL Cup fixture at West Brom. Against inferior opposition, Aubameyang registered the third treble of his Arsenal career. He played no further part in the competition as his side reached the final four.

He did, however, score in each of his next four appearances at the Emirates, the last of which came against Aston Villa. Having seen Emi Martínez, a fellow hero of the 2020 FA Cup campaign, save his penalty, he reacted quickest to fire home the rebound. It seemed almost unthinkable at the time, but this was his final goal in an Arsenal shirt.

The miss seconds earlier, unfortunately, was not his last. A fortnight later he was again denied from the spot as Watford’s Ben Foster guessed correctly, and three weeks on he somehow hit the woodwork from a yard out against Newcastle. For such an outgoing, charismatic player, it was strange to witness a drop in confidence.

The short goodbye

It is this that makes his final touch for Arsenal so painful.

Just like his first, it came against Everton.

This time he was brought on from the bench with the scores level at 1-1, before Demarai Gray gave the Toffees what seemed to be a late winner. There was still time for that to change, though. Seconds remained when Lacazette stepped over Eddie Nketiah’s pass, allowing the ball to find his captain free ten yards out. Perhaps this startled the striker, but his composure in front of goal deserted him, and he fired wide.

Five days later, and he was absent from the matchday squad to face Southampton as Arteta cited a disciplinary issue. This was not without precedent, as Aubameyang had been omitted from the side that beat Tottenham earlier that year on similar grounds. On that occasion, the issue had been resolved and he returned to the starting 11 for the following fixtures.

In this instance, it was a bridge too far, and just as his predecessor Xhaka, he was stripped of the captaincy. Unlike Xhaka, he was not recalled to the matchday squad.

With Lacazette and Nketiah set to depart in July, this feels like the end of another era of forwards; for Aubameyang, though, it will surely hurt most. He managed 92 goals in 163 appearances - 72 of those efforts came in the first 111 matches. He shone for two-and-a-half years in an Arsenal side that faltered and stuttered under three different permanent managers. Now, the final 18 months have been a disappointment, and he departs north London having failed to make a single Champions League appearance. He will not get one at Barcelona in the remainder of this campaign, either.

He will not end his time at the club on a high note, as he might have done in the summer of 2020. In retrospect, a departure then might have been an outcome that suited all parties, a result that at the time seemed ludicrous.

Given his age, and the performances of the young forwards at the club, his exit will not have the impact it would have done then. In fact, were he to leave this summer, there would be few complaints all round. Nonetheless, it shouldn’t have ended this way for someone who has every right to be considered one of the club’s greatest players.

Still, remember the smile.