Aubameyang's French renaissance - Ex-Arsenal captain amongst Europe's most lethal attackers (2024)

38 goal contributions

Marseille’sEuropean adventure ended on Thursday night asAtalanta booked their place in the Europa League final and the disappointment had a profound impact on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The iconic striker was visibly distraught at the 3-0 defeat in Italy after his heroics in the competition saw Marseille defy the odds to reach the semi-final.

Aubameyang is the top scorer in theEuropa League with 10 goals and he will win the award for the competition’s top marksman but that was little consolation to the formerArsenal captain. Now 34, Aubameyang has been one of the most recognisable strikers in Europe across the last decade and his career has been rejuvenated by joining Marseille in his twilight years.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's French renaissance at Marseille

Aubameyang has rolled back the years since moving to Marseille this summer and he’s thrived as the main man despite playing under three different managers in one season. The 34-year-old has scored 27 goals and provided 11 assists in 48 appearances. Marseille have endured a hugely disappointing campaign, languishing in 9th place inLigue 1 but Aubameyang has been their shining light.

As the graphic above illustrates, the Marseille striker ranks 7th for goal involvements across players in the top five leagues in all competitions.Harry Kane leads the way with an incredible 56 goals and assists in 45 games withKylian Mbappé(53) andErling Haaland (42). Aubameyang is comfortably the oldest player on the list and he impressively ranks second amongst players over 30 for most goals in the top five leagues in all competitions with 27 - behindBayern Munich star Kane - and Marseille has provided him a new lease of life.

Asked recently by L’Equipe if Marseille had provided him with a new sensation, Aubameyang answered: “That's exactly it, and it's not over. I'm really happy to be here and I thank Pablo Longoria. He convinced me to come here. OM had come for me two years before and I wasn't 100% sure that it was the right project, and in the end he managed to convince me. If it works here, it's madness, and it's this euphoria that you come for. When I score at the Vélodrome, or even an assist, it's extraordinary.”

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s impressive record in European football

Aubameyang has been amongst European football’s top marksmen since 2000. The French-born striker failed to make a senior appearance for AC Milan before embarking on loans to Dijon,Lille andMonaco but he truly made his name at Saint-Étienne. The rapid striker netted 41 goals in 97 appearances which earned him a move toBorussia Dortmund for €13m in 2013. Aubameyang developed his reputation as one of the best strikers in Europe in Germany, scoring 141 goals in 213 at Dortmund before Arsenal came calling. As the graphic below illustrates, Aubameyang has scored the 7th most goals (243) of any player in Europe’s top five leagues since 2000 across his spells at eight different clubs.

The iconic striker’s career in England had an unforgettable ending after some fruitful years at Arsenal. Aubameyang joined the Gunners for a then club-record fee of €63.75m in January 2018 and he was a revelation. In his first full season at the Emirates, Aubameyang scored 22 league goals to share the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah and scored a hat-trick against Valencia in the Europa League semi-final to take Arsenal to their first European final in 13 years.

Aubameyang was handed the Arsenal captaincy in November 2019 and he finished one goal behindJamie Vardy in the golden boot race in 2019-20. The Gabon international also became the sixth fastest player inPremier League history to reach 50 goals but he fell out with Mikel Arteta due to disciplinary reasons and was stripped of the captaincy before his contract was ripped up and he joinedBarcelona in January 2022. Aubameyang won his first league title withBarcelona that season before a failed move toChelsea that yielded just three goals in 21 appearances and he joined Marseille last summer on a free.