Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang going above and beyond

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named the Premier League September Player of the Month. It is just further proof of how the Arsenal striker is going above and beyond what could ever be expected.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of the premier centre-forwards in world football. He proved as much with a sensational goalscoring record at Borussia Dortmund. He is now only compounding the evidence as he comes to the end of two superb years at Arsenal.

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This week, he was named the Premier League’s Player of the Month for September, in which he scored five goals in four matches, including one to rescue a draw against Spurs, two to rescue a draw against Watford, another to rescue a draw at Old Trafford, and one more to rescue a win against Aston Villa. I think you get the picture.

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He now has seven league goals in eight games. Of the nine matches in all competitions that he has started in, he has failed to score in only two. He now has 18 goals in his last 18 starts in all competition dating back to last season. Whatever way you want to cut it, Aubameyang is an outstanding centre-forward.

But Arsenal knew that when they signed him. Everyone knew that when they signed him. They might not have expected such a relentless scoring rate over such an extended period, but few are surprised that he was the co-Golden Boot winner last season. This is merely a continuation of his Dortmund form, just in a different league.

What is more unexpected is the role of leadership he has taken on. Unai Emery named Aubameyang as his vice-captain and a key part of the leadership group. Last weekend, when asked about Aubameyang the character, the Arsenal head coach said:

"“Now he is more confident and more mature in the Premier League compared to when I arrived last year. He scored a lot of goals last year but has now also taken a big responsibility within the team. He is one of the captains who can manage the dressing room.”"

Gabriel Martinelli, the fresh-faced 18-year-old who is taking the Arsenal strikeforce by storm, relayed a similar impression when speaking to Globo Esporte:

"“Aubameyang arrives and sits next to me, speaking Portuguese to me, trying to communicate. The guy is so good and so humble. I was like, ‘man, Aubameyang, who I saw on TV, came to talk to me'”"

Despite being the primary penalty taker, Aubameyang handed Nicolas Pepe a spotkick in the victory over Aston Villa to help inject some confidence into the struggling winger’s game — to date, it is Pepe’s only goal for the club. He did the same for Alexandre Lacazette last season when on a hat-trick.

Aubameyang is a great player. But that is not news to anyone. The fact that he is also a great character, leader, teammate and inspiration is something new, different, unexpected. He really is going above and beyond what anyone could have asked.