Arsenal complete £56m signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund
The 28-year-old forward joins on a 'long-term contract' after four seasons at Dortmund, the club has confirmed
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal have completed the £56m signing of Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a club-record deal.
The 28-year-old forward joins the north Londoners on a "long-term contract" after four seasons at Dortmund.
Aubameyang is reunited with former Dortmund teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who completed his move to Arsenal last week in a player exchange with Alexis Sanchez.
“I’m really happy to be here,” Aubameyang told the club's official website. “Of course I can join Mkhi in this team so I’m really happy to be here in this great team.”
When asked why he had joined Arsenal, the Gabon international said: “I think the club have such a big history and they have the great players, like Thierry Henry, so it’s an example for us strikers.
“He [Henry] was fast and he scored a lot of goals, it’s really an example [for me].”
Aubameyang described his playing style as “like Henry a little bit” but added that he will “have to work a lot to be like him”.
Manager Arsene Wenger said of the player: “We need people who can give us more offensive power.
“At the moment we aren't efficient enough going forward, and hopefully I'm convinced he will bring us that. He has a big challenge in front of him, he wants to win the Premier League.
Arsenal had been in negotiations with Dortmund over the signing of Aubameyang for a number of weeks but a breakthrough was finally made over the weekend.
Dortmund had initially wanted £61m (€70m) and turned down Arsenal’s opening offers of £40m and £44m for the Gabon international. The north Londoners later raised their offer to £56m, plus add-ons, which Dortmund agreed to.
Dortmund’s willingness to sell Aubameyang, the 2015 African Footballer of the Year, stemed from a break down in relations between the player and his former club. The 28-year-old was twice dropped by the Germans this season due to disciplinary reasons, with Dortmund officials keen to move the forward on.
Despite this, Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc thanked Aubameyang for his four years of service at the club.
"Apart from the unpleasant events of recent weeks, we like to remember that the story of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at BVB for more than four years was a single success story," he said.
"He has done great things for Borussia Dortmund at this time, scored many important goals and is part of the team that brought the DFB Cup to Dortmund in 2017. We wish Pierre-Emerick all the best for his future at Arsenal."
Aubameyang's career in numbers:
141 - Goals for Borussia Dortmund in 213 appearances across all competitions following his move to Germany from French club St Etienne in July 2013.
56 - Caps for Gabon, and named African Footballer of the Year for 2015.
31 - Bundesliga goals in the 2016/17 season, which made Aubameyang the leading scorer in the German top flight.
23 - International goals.
21 - Goals so far this season for Dortmund, in all competitions.
6 - Champions League appearances in this season's group stage.
4 - Goals in the Champions League this season - including one against Tottenham at the Westfalenstadion and two in the 3-2 defeat at Real Madrid.
1 - Trophies won at Dortmund - the DFB-Pokal, Germany's national cup competition, in 2017.
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