Official: Chelsea announce forward has left for one-time Champions League winners

Chelsea announce Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has joined Olympique de Marseille

Chelsea have officially announced that striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has left the club to join Ligue 1 giants Olympique de Marseille.

The Gabon international signed for us from Barcelona last summer on deadline day for a fee of £10million plus Marcos Alonso. The move reeked of a panic buy.

It came so late in the window that it seemed like a short-term solution for our striker problems. Without Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, the club needed a recognised No. 9.

But perhaps we didn’t make the right choice if we go strictly by his numbers. A return of one goal in 15 Premier League matches isn’t the best for a player who was Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal’s goal machine during his heyday.

New beginnings

It always seemed like Auba was destined to leave Stamford Bridge as soon as he had the chance. He was even spotted celebrating with his old Barcelona teammates earlier this year after their win against Real Madrid in March.

As per Fabrizio Romano, the 34-year-old has penned a three-year deal with Olympique de Marseille. That is a very long contract to hand to a player in his mid-30s who seems to be on the decline.

But one can’t rule out the former Arsenal striker to rekindle his career in Ligue 1. OM aren’t a small club by any means. They won the UEFA Champions League in the 1992-93 season and have a very rich history of success in France.

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They have also lost Alexis Sanchez and Arkadiusz Milik this summer, so they would certainly hand Aubameyang a shot at regular first-team football. That would have been impossible for him in SW6. All the best to him!