Barcelona sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on a free transfer – €2m contract agreed

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has completed his transfer to Barcelona in a deadline day deal for the Blaugrana. It was feared that the Spanish club would miss out on him in the final hours, but the deal ultimately went through. 

Joan Laporta had asserted that he was confident about the situation from the very beginning, and the Gabon international has accepted a €2 million per year wage to become a Barcelona player. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang officially announced by Barcelona 

The 32-year-old had not played for Arsenal since December following a disciplinary breach. The Premier League club wanted to get rid of his £15 million wages, after signing him in 2018 from Borussia Dortmund and they did so by letting him go on a free transfer. 

The player had flown to Barcelona before a deal was fully agreed, which upset the Arsenal authorities. While they were quite a margin apart from Barcelona in terms of the transfer fee, they terminated his contract prior to the deadline despite one-and-a-half year remaining on his deal. 

Aubameyang featured 163 times for the Gunners and wore the captain’s armband multiple times for them as well. He scored 92 goals for the North London side, and won the Premier League Golden Boot as well. 

He was expected to compete at AFCON this year, but was sent back due to heart lesions caused by COVID complications. However, he has now been given the green light to play again. Arsenal are only left with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah as their two main strikers following no additions in the January transfer window.