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Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang can win Golden Boot
Not since Robin van Persie have Arsenal had the Golden Boot winner. Well, next season, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has as good a chance as anyone.
Throughout the Premier League era, the Arsenal team has revolved around a star striker. Alan Smith in the early 90s, Ian Wright, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie. They have always a goalscorer to lead the line, off of which, creative, nuanced attacking midfielders and second-strikers can play their stuff.
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But since the departure of van Persie in 2012, a year in which he won the Premier League Golden Boot with 30 goals, that figurehead centre-forward has been somewhat absent. Olivier Giroud was solid and effective, but he never reached 20 goals in a league season. Alexandre Lacazette, last season, only scored 14, his season scuppered by knee surgery and a rough period through the winter months.
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And as the striking position scored fewer goals, the responsibility was spread around the team a little more. Aaron Ramsey scored from midfield, Alexis Sanchez was the leading scorer in 2016/17 with 24 goals, and the likes of Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott and many others all helped chip in with a handful each. However, as next season looms, it is apparent that Arsenal have returned to their striking greatness of years gone by.
The club-record £56 million addition of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a game-changer for the striking position. The former Borussia Dortmund centre-forward is a natural-born goalscorer. His movement is exceptionally sharp, possessing searing pace and great intelligence and anticipation, his finishing is calm when through on goal, and his goalscoring numbers over several years are remarkable.
In half a season from January, Aubameyang scored 10 goals in 13 games, averaging a goal every 105.8 minutes, an exceptional rate for any centre-forward, nevermind one that had just arrived at new country, playing for a new team, in a new league, and spending some of his time on the wing as Wenger looked to squeeze both him and Lacazette in the same team.
He showcased his scoring qualities in that short time and hinted at an ability to score 25 – 30 league goals a season, as he did for Dortmund — he scored 31 and 25 goals in his final two full seasons in Germany. That would put him right in the mix for the Golden Boot, which Mohamed Salah won with 32 goals last season.
Winning the Golden Boot doesn’t really matter. I am sure that Aubameyang would like to win it, but he would drop it in an instant if he could swap it for a Premier League title. But it does represent the presence of a true, clinical, prolific centre-forward in the Arsenal squad, something that they have not had for many years.
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Having that type of player in your midst is reassuring. It says that at any time you can score. It provides hope for a goal at all times. It offers assurance that wins will come with clean sheets. That is what Aubameyang provides, and it may just lead to a Golden Boot too.