Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has rekindled his best form after signing for Barcelona, writes OLIVER KEOHANE.

Fifteen games, 1 116 minutes and five goals. Clashes with coach Mikel Arteta, stripped of the captaincy and suspended from play. North London was no longer looking the place for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and it was without too much surprise that Arsenal released him from his contract.

The surprise, perhaps, was in finding a new home at Xavi’s Barcelona. In 2020, Xavi was quoted as saying the striker would not be a great fit for Barcelona given he needed open spaces to operate effectively. Just six weeks after fielding Aubameyang in his first match for the Catalonian club, Xavi has changed his tune.

Aubameyang has been on fire since arriving in Barcelona, including scoring a hat-trick against Valencia. After finishing one of Barcelona’s four goals against Osasuna, Aubameyang became the first signing since Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in 2009, to score five goals in his first six La Liga games. Ronaldo, Romario and Johan Cryuff are among the other players to have hit this special statistic in their time at Barcelona.

It has long been a dream of the seasoned striker to play in La Liga, having made his name in Germany’s Bundesliga at Borussia Dortmund, shone in England’s Premier League for Arsenal and continued the legacy of his Gabon-born father, Pierre-Francois, by representing the African state at international level.

But Aubameyang has a Spanish mother, and his transition into life in Catalonia has been seamless given his fluent Spanish, many summers spent in Spain as a youngster and his father’s holiday house in Sitges, a town just 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona.

Since February, Aubameyang has steadily been playing his role in a Catalonian resurgence under Xavi, after their worst start to a season since 1987 under former manager Ronald Koeman. Barcelona, at one stage mid-table and at a loss for inspiration after Messi’s heartbreaking departure to Paris, are now back up at the top end of La Liga’s table and look set for Champions League action again next year.

Aubameyang has been a perfect complement to an attacking force that includes Memphis Depay, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, other January signings Adama Traore and Ferran Torres and, of course, Luuk De Jong. 

While Aubameyang may not initially have been in Barcelona’s plans, with Juventus’ Alvero Morata the forward that Xavi was targeting early in the transfer window, the former Arsenal captain is turning out to be an astute signing. Barcelona was able to scoop him up as a free agent.

Instead of struggling for speed or accuracy, Aubamayeng has thrived in La Liga, albeit a league slightly slower than the Premier League, and has shown that he still very much possesses a keen eye for the goal.

‘He is a positive player who has fitted in very well in the dressing room, adapted to the circumstances of the team, generates chances, scores lots of goals, works for the team. It is a privilege to coach him. He is an example,’ Xavi told The Athletic.

Aubameyang’s deal runs to 2025, with a break clause in June 2023. Whether he remains in his red-hot form is irrelevant to the role he’s playing in helping Barcelona slowly build back to being the Spanish powerhouse that the world has always known.

We know the unique talent and skillset that Aubameyang brings to Barcelona, coupled with years of experience across major European leagues. But all the talent in the world counts for nothing when a player is not happy.

While this may have been the case towards the end of his stint in north London, it’s clear that Catalonia is where the centre-forward’s heart lies, and Barcelona will reap the benefits as long as that remains the case.  
 
Did You Know?

Aubameyang’s speed has characterised his career, and while he is into his thirties now and may have lost just a little bit of that pace, he once clocked 30 meters in 3.7 seconds. A slower Aubameyang is still a speedy player.

He is the first player since the turn of the century to score hat-tricks in the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Ligue 1

He scored a hat-trick on his first La Liga start and in 2013 scored a hat-trick on his Bundesliga debut.