PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMAEYANG has revealed the club that left the biggest impression on him during his career.
The 34-year-old joined Marseille in the summer after a miserable stint at Chelsea last season and has five goals and three assists in 15 games for his new club.
In an interview with Prime Video, Aubameyang revealed that it was Barcelona that he was most fond of playing for during his playing career – despite only playing for them for six months.
That’s despite sensational stints at Borussia Dortmund and St. Etienne who are both known for their excellent atmospheres.
The forward also captained Arsenal during his time in North London.
In the interview with Amazon, the striker said: “I think I had the best six months of my career [at Barcelona]. I have never enjoyed playing football and going to training so much.
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“I even went to training on my off days. This is to tell you, it was incredible.”
Arsenal fans will know that this is a pretty big deal for Aubameyang, given that he was stripped of his captaincy by Mikel Arteta due to his consistent lateness to training.
It was revealed in Arsenal’s All or Nothing documentary that Arteta had to fight to convince sporting director Edu to tear up the Gabon international’s contract due to his lax attitude.
In the doc, Arteta said: “I have everything documented, with the dates, the times, the conversations, how it happened, why it happened . . . because of if one day it’s needed.
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“[Aubameyang] has been late, apart from all the [other] issues, many times.
“The club has got a tradition. When you get paid that much . . . “
Edu wanted to keep the striker because of his goalscoring ability, but Arteta said letting him go was a matter of trust.
The Spaniard said: “You cannot measure trust.
“When that’s gone, it’s a really difficult point to get something back from.
“What happened . . . in the last ten years?
“In Spain, it is called ‘casa pepe’ . . . everyone does whatever he f*****g wants.”
The forward then joined Barcelona on a free, where he scored 13 goals and registered one assist in 14 games.
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A miserable spell at Chelsea followed, where he scored just three times in 21 games.
Aubameyang will be hoping that Marseille provides a similar platform to Barcelona in terms of success as he enters the autumn of his career.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
