Arsenal and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: I just don’t want to believe

Per reports from Sky Italia, Arsenal are pondering Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as a possible Alexis Sanchez replacement. Such is the history of this club, I just don’t want to let myself believe.

Arsenal do not spend big on players. They just don’t. In their history, they have only bought a player for £20 million or more on five occasions — Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi, Alexandre Lacazette. As long as Stan Kroenke and Arsene Wenger are in charge, the likelihood of the club ever dishing out the big bucks is extremely small.

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And yet, they have done it on exactly five occasions — Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi, Alexandre Lacazette. That breeds hope for the future. Arsenal may not spend like a Manchester City or Chelsea. But every now and then, they do spend. That, perhaps, makes the whole agony that much worse.

They say that it’s the hope that kills. I certainly believe that to be true. And it is Arsenal’s odd striking-out on a top-tier player that provides such disastrous hope. They have, in the past, signed one of the best players in the world, one of the hottest names on the market, one of the most high-profile, expensive players available. So, when rumours of the same type of signing surface, I cannot simply name them folly and ignore the noise.

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That leads me to Thursday morning’s breaking news from Sky Italia. Per the rumour mill, Arsenal — I can no longer just write Wenger as a representation for the whole club, seeing that there is a clear Sven Mislintat stamp on these reports — have highlighted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as their first-choice replacement for the likely outgoing Alexis Sanchez. That is not what my poor heart wanted to hear.

Let me first explain why I am so enamoured with Aubameyang. These are the goals and assists that he has recorded while at Borussia Dortmund. I have only taken games in the Bundesliga and Champions League (in the 2015/16 season, Aubameyang played in the Europa League, not the Champions League) to try and give a fair assessment of his production against high-quality opponents.

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2013/14: 24 starts; 12 sub appearances — 14 goals; 4 assists

2014/15: 38 starts; 3 sub appearances — 19 goals; 8 assists

2015/16: 37 starts; 4 sub appearances — 33 goals; 5 assists

2016/17: 39 starts; 2 sub appearances — 38 goals; 3 assists

2017/18: 21 stars; 0 sub appearances — 17 goals; 3 assists

If you were to take his last two-and-a-half seasons, which are the most recent and the most productive, then you would see that Auabemeyang has had a direct involvement in a goal (a goal or an assist) every 86.92 minutes. In Sanchez’s best season — 2016/17 campaign –, he averaged a direct involvement in a goal every 97.23 minutes. Both are excellent. But Aubameyang’s is better. I hesitate to say this, but he might actually be an improvement on Sanchez.

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And that is exactly why I cannot let myself believe the rumours. I want it to happen too much, and I have burned by this club too much. So please, let it happen. But I will not be getting my hopes up.