The Basics
Age: 34
Club: Chelsea
Nation: Gabon
Position: Striker
Footed: Right
Under contract until: 2024
Aubameyang was born in France and spent much of his youth career there with Nice, Laval, and Bastia, before moving to AC Milan in 2007 aged 17.
He never played a competitive game for AC, going on loan to Dijon, Lille, and Monaco in three consecutive seasons before signing for Saint-Étienne in 2011.
This is where Aubameyang’s career took off, as he scored 41 goals in 97 games before moving to Borussia Dortmund.
In four-and-a-half years in Germany, Aubameyang was prolific, scoring 141 times in 213 appearances. He was named Bundesliga Player of the Season in 2015/16 and was the league’s top scorer the following season, also winning the DFB-Pokal.
Arsenal signed Aubameyang in January 2018 for a reported £56million. He was managed by Unai Emery during his time at Arsenal, and in total scored 92 goals for the club in 163 appearances.
He then moved to Barcelona in February 2022, winning his only league title at the end of the 2021/22 season and scoring 13 times in 24 games, before transferring back to London with Chelsea in September 2022.
The striker hasn’t hit the same heights at Chelsea, scoring only two goals in 21 appearances.
For Gabon, Aubameyang has played 72 games and scored 30 goals.
The Links
Gregg Evans of The Athletic reported in January that Villa may explore the option of bringing Aubameyang in during the summer, as Unai Emery is “known to be fond” of the striker.
The Scouting Report
Strengths
Aubameyang’s goalscoring record is his biggest selling point. He has 334 in total and has outscored his expected goals (xG) over the course of his career.
He senses opportunities to score and positions himself well in the penalty area, slipping away from defenders and into space. When a teammate shoots, he moves towards goal anticipating a rebound.
Pace has always been a strength of Aubameyang’s game, and this can still be seen as he makes runs behind the defence with speed even at age 34.
As well as running behind, Aubameyang will drop short so the ball can be bounced off him, moving to whichever side of the pitch his team are building up.
Aubameyang’s first touch is soft, and he is able to flick passes round the corner or play balls over the top to set a teammate through on goal. His pass accuracy ranks in the 80th percentile among forwards in the ‘Big 5’ European leagues over the last year.
He shows some eagerness to press and can cause panic by sprinting towards defenders in possession.
Weaknesses
Despite being 6’2”, Aubameyang doesn’t compete for the ball in the air well enough, ranking in just the 10thpercentile for aerial duel win rate.
This doesn’t mesh well with the fact he is more of a back to goal striker. It’s not often you see Aubameyang pick the ball up, turn and run at defences, ranking in just the 7th percentile for successful take-ons.
In contrast to his career numbers, Aubameyang hasn’t outscored his xG in any of the last three seasons, although this could be impacted by the unsettled nature of his recent career.
His link up play can be hit and miss, with some lazy passes that come up short.
The pressing Aubameyang shows in spurts fades as matches go on, and when he does arrive at the ball-carrier he rarely puts a tackle in. He ranks in the 1st percentile for tackles and the 34th percentile for blocks.
Fit With Villa
After the departure of Danny Ings in January, Villa have space for an experienced striker, with only Cameron Archer and Jhon Durán behind Ollie Watkins currently.
With Chelsea needing to shed players from their squad, they may essentially give Aubameyang away, which may make him more attractive to Villa.
The question, which is currently hard to answer, is just how much Aubameyang has declined and how much he will decline in the next couple of years. He doesn’t seem like the type of player who will be happy to sit on the bench either.
He could be revitalised under his former boss Emery or another Philippe Coutinho.
Transfer Targets Series
The Villa Ramble 
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