The end of the winter market left one of lime and one of sand at Barça. Arsenal gave Aubameyang the letter of freedom and the Gabonese will play for Barça, in the absence of official confirmation, until June 2023. However, the Barça club ‘ate’ Ousmane Dembélé. After filling his mouth assuring that the Frenchman had two options, renew or leave, Mateu Alemany failed in his attempt to place it and Barça must now decide if the winger plays, stays in the stands, or gives him the letter of freedom, a possibility that TV3 put on the table this Monday night.
Pierre-Emerick Emiliano Francois Aubameyang (18-6-1989, Laval) will finally be the reinforcement for the forward, in which Xavi wanted Álvaro Morata. Atlético’s resistance to facilitating the Juventus striker’s pass, for which he was asking for 35 million euros, forced Barça to change pace and improvise with Aubameyang, a plan B that was in a dead end at Arsenal for his bad relationship with the coach, Mikel Arteta. The player landed in Barcelona at noon and waited until 9:00 p.m. to undergo the medical examination. Joan Laporta arrived around that time at the Ciutat Esportiva del Barça, where Rafa Yuste, Mateu Alemany, Jordi Cruyff and Xavi were already waiting for him.
Despite playing little this season, Aubameyang has scored seven goals in 15 games for the Gunners. He is no longer the exuberant forward that Arsenal signed from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018 for 65 million euros, but he maintains his nose. Player who in his day was devastating with spaces, also has quality and pulse against rival goals. After passing through the lower categories of Milan, Aubameyang was testing his level in France: Monaco, Lille, Dijon. The definitive leap occurred at Saint-Etienne, with whom he scored 41 goals in 97 games. From there, to Dortmund, where he became a world-class footballer. His 92 goals in 163 games captivated the Sud-Tribune and took him to Arsenal, where he presented himself dreaming of being a new Henry. He hasn’t gotten that far because Arsenal don’t win titles, but he has scored 141 goals in 213 games, an excellent average of 0.66.
The morbidity of the signing of Aubameyang is in the newspaper library. In February 2016, the international with Gabon explained his sentimental ties with Real Madrid: “Before he passed away, in 2014, I promised my grandfather, who was from Ávila, that one day I would play for Real Madrid. He felt so close to the whites that he said: “I celebrate goals with a somersault in tribute to Hugo Sánchez, I’ve seen many videos on the internet and I’ve followed him since I was a kid”. That if, in that same interview he did not close the door to other clubs: “It would also be a nice gift for my mother, who is Spanish”. When it seemed that the opportunity to play in Spain had vanished, the stars have aligned and Aubameyang will dress as a Barça player.
It will coincide, then, with Dembélé. Barça, who on Friday thought they had the situation under control, and who thought they could place him at Tottenham, Manchester United or PSG, did not have a key to the equation. Dembélé is free from June and he can choose his future. There was no agreement and now the club will have to decide if the footballer plays until June or stays in the stands. Dembélé has been predisposed to play, but Barça has already given his word. If he wants to have him, he will have to choose a strategy that acts as a smoke screen so that Xavi once again has a footballer he loves available, but who He may be demotivated by poor management that has ended up exploding in Barça’s hands. Dembélé, by the way, was Aubameyang’s partner in his explosion with Borussia Dortmund. Who knows if they could still meet again in the field.