Arsenal Vs Valencia: 5 things we learned – I love centre-forwards

1. Aubameyang was a bargain

I was reflecting on this earlier this month after Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had rescued Arsenal for the umpteenth time: The club signed two of the best centre-forwards in the Premier League for a combined £103 million. That is a bargain.

Such a statement is especially true of Aubameyang. He was playing at a higher level than Lacazette, was scoring close to a goal per game at Borussia Dortmund for several seasons, and had been consistently linked with moves to some of the biggest teams in Europe, all of which would presumably be more attractive destinations than the Emirates. And yet he was £56 million.

He arrived just six months after Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku had moved for £60 and £75 million respectively. Higuain had just moved to Juventus a year earlier for approximately £80 million. Not only has Aubameyang worked out a better signing than all of them, but he was a better player than all of them at the time Arsenal signed him. And yet he was still markedly cheaper than all three.

In a period when transfer fees are exploding wildly, Aubameyang for £56 million is looking like more and more of a bargain. And at no time has that looked like more the case than here.