Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang honeymoon is over

Arsenal shattered a lot of notions when they bought Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but is the honeymoon period over already? Can the questions begin?

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is as good as they come in the striker world. The drama off the pitch was a hesitation for apparently everyone except Arsenal, but it hasn’t interfered with his performance on the pitch, as far as I can tell.

I don’t want to get too much into hindsight. I never do. It’s done and dusted, no point in looking back. But I feel like people were hesitant to question the purchase of Aubameyang because of the sparkling resume that he carries.

That’s fair. I love Aubameyang and what he brings to the club and I’m sure everyone is simply elated that we spent so much money on a superstar.

But I want to do something unpopular and something that I’m not even sure I want to do. Yet I still feels it needs to be done. I want to ask a simple question – was Aubameyang worth it?

It’s still early. Very early. So I don’t think I’ll have a huge, conclusive answer. But seeing what I’ve seen and knowing what I know, I feel like, since the Aubameyang honeymoon is over, it needs to be asked.

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There is a big part of me that wonders why this was necessary. Rather, it was’t necessary, so this part of me is wondering why it was done.

Alexandre Lacazette and Aubameyang are so similar. The latter has more speed, the former more finishing ability. But the contrast between the two doesn’t justify needing them both, and that is my first red flag.

Olivier Giroud and Lacazette were never given a chance to compete against one another. They complimented each other on occasion, as they have such a vastly different skill set that was so, so valuable to the Gunners.

Trading out Giroud for Aubameyang, to me, was nothing more than a panicked attempt to make a mad dash into the top four. Which was unnecessary when you could have just kept Lacazette and Giroud and won the Europa League more conclusively.

Again, don’t let me sound like I’m completely against the transfer. Aubameyang is great. But he wasn’t necessary and I would argue what we sacrificed has not been made up for and I worry that it will never be made up for.

Because we no longer have the tools to make up for it.

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The star power is fun. The speed and fluidity is entertaining. But as of right now, with the enamor of the honeymoon wearing off, I am lukewarm about the whole ordeal. Not that it means anything, because it’s all said and done.

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