What Aubameyang’s Barcelona form post Arsenal tells us

As Alexandre Lacazette squeezed in a shot past Jose Sa in the 95th minute there was a mixture of unbridled elation at the goal and vicarious happiness for the Arsenal striker.

Even if the goal wasn’t his to claim, supporters see it as so. Arsenal have undoubtedly improved since he became the starting centre-forward, but he’s still only scored one goal from open play in the nine Premier League matches since.

He’s a man who desperately needs that duck breaking, one that other than from the penalty spot came back in mid-December. Meanwhile, 700 miles away, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is having no such issues.

Sealing a deadline day move to Barcelona after being ostracised by Mikel Arteta for the latest of an unknown number of disciplinary breaches, the 32-year-old bid farewell to north London in undesirable fashion. His goalscoring form since has prompted the expected revisionism from some corners.

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What former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Barcelona form tells us is that the timing of the move was right for all parties

Coming off the bench in his first two La Liga outings without scoring, Aubameyang marked his first league start for La Blaugrana with a hat-trick against Valencia. A week later he followed that up with another goal over Athletic Club, and then in the second leg of Barça’s Europa League knockout match away at Napoli, he struck another fine goal.

His tally stands at five goals in his first six games under Xavi. By contrast, he’d netted four in 14 Premier League matches prior.

Numerous topics of debate arise. The obvious one is that Arteta was misusing the striker and therefore should be blamed for his form, while the other side of that particular coin suggests Aubameyang had merely downed tools. Furthermore, is his improved scoring rate simply down to a lower calibre of opposition, or a system more suited to his style?

So, what does this tell us? One can cherry pick their favourite reason from those above, or perhaps others, but the primary and most important of all explanations is simply that this was the right time for Arsenal and Aubameyang to part ways.

It was clear that Arteta’s non-negotiables weren’t going to align with Aubameyang, and the rut he found himself in was in need of a helping hand from elsewhere. His new lease of life came from Camp Nou, where a change of scenery and the lack of an armband (not forcefully) may have been precisely what his career at 32 years of age yearned for.

The same goes for Arsenal. This emerging crop of youngsters didn’t need an entire system changing to comply with a striker on the decline in the Premier League. For this season to be a success they needed Lacazette.

And while his goal numbers aren’t impressive, he has also notched five assists since Aubameyang’s banishment, and been an integral cog in a side that has dropped only four points since then.

Aubameyang’s form doesn’t tell us that Arteta was wrong or right, or that La Liga is a worse division than the Premier League. All of that is worthless in the context, as the context is that this has happened, won’t be rekindled, and suits all parties involved.

All this proves is that the timing was right. And, it’s also possible to be genuinely made up for the former captain while also accepting that this deal had to happen having got the the position it had done.

He looks rejuvenated in Spain. Perhaps he needed this more than anyone realised. In any case, it’s going really well for him, and while many won’t, you can’t help but crack a small smile when he performs his iconic front flip. Long may that continue.