Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has joined Chelsea from Barcelona, the two clubs announced on Thursday. The Gabon striker signed a two-year deal to ensure his return to the Premier League.
The former Arsenal striker landed in London late on Thursday, but Chelsea had already filed the necessary paperwork to the Premier League by the time the trade was officially confirmed at 2200 GMT (23:00 SA time).
Barcelona said they struck a deal in which Chelsea paid $11.94 million to add Aubameyang to their front line.
Aubameyang had previously excelled at Borussia Dortmund under manager Thomas Tuchel.
“I’m overjoyed. I’m excited to get started and consider it an honour to be a member of this team.
It’s fantastic to be back because I have some Premier League business to take care of “In a statement, Aubameyang said.
Aubameyang had 24 appearances with Barcelona and scored 13 goals, but he was no longer required when the club bought Polish striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich and had to transfer players to meet LaLiga’s financial criteria.
Having spent four years at Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal, where he scored 92 goals across all competitions, Aubameyang is no stranger to the Premier League.
The 33-year-old scored a league-high two goals in 2018–19, and he helped Arsenal win the FA Cup the following year.
The Gabon international, though, had a falling out with Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, last season over disciplinary matters.
Prior to a February transfer to Barcelona, he initially lost the captaincy before having his contract cancelled.
Romelu Lukaku moved back to Inter Milan on loan over the offseason, while Timo Werner went back to RB Leipzig, leaving Chelsea without a reliable striker.
Denis Zakaria, a Swiss international, has joined Chelsea on a season-long loan from Juventus. Chelsea has the option to make Zakaria’s stay permanent at the conclusion of the current campaign.
At Chelsea, Tuchel said that N’Golo Kante’s hamstring injury is expected to keep him out for many weeks, and that Ruben Loftus-Cheek is also injured, making midfield additions urgently needed.
Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly are just two of the high-profile players that the London club, which is now 10th after five games, has acquired.
Marcos Alonso, a full defender who joined Chelsea in 2016 for around $26.6 million and had one year remaining on his contract, has reportedly joined Barcelona as part of the transaction.