“A panic buy” – Emmanuel Petit says Chelsea attacker lost his passion

By
Megan Hackett
-
0
151
Chelsea

Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has called Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a panic buy from Chelsea.

The Blues signed the Gabon international from Barcelona for a €12m transfer fee last summer. He arrives on deadline and struggles to establish himself under manager Graham Potter.

Aubameyang has scored just one goal in 431 league minutes this season. These are not numbers you want to associate with ‘African Player of the Year 2015’.

Emmanuel Petit

He shared his Premier League Golden boot in his 2018/19 season and was named Arsenal’s Player of the Season the following season. He joined Barcelona in January 2022 after scoring 92 goals and 31 assists in 163 appearances for the Gunners.

He scored 11 goals in 17 La Liga appearances later that season before joining the Blues who needed a forward at the time.

Timo Werner was cleared to return to RB Leipzig on a permanent transfer, while Romelu Lukaku returned to Inter Milan for the season last summer. Petit, meanwhile, thinks the 33-year-old was signed by the Blues out of desperation.

He told SportingPost:

“I said at the start of the season when they bought him it looked like a panic buy. Aubameyang is still a quality striker but he isn’t what he used to be.”

He added:

“I think he lost his passion and I think after his spell at Barcelona he can see what Arsenal is doing without him. What Jesus and Nketiah are doing. Maybe he is thinking if he had the right attitude he could be part of what is going on.”

He also said:

“Now with Chelsea, maybe there is a ‘curse’ with the striker, but Drogba wasn’t cursed – the whole team is not working, there is something wrong at the moment.”

What Aubameyang said about Chelsea’s no-nine curse

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who played for Chelsea from 2000 to 2004, was probably the last forward in the Blues to justify wearing the number 9 shirt.

Since then, world-class names such as Hernan Crespo, Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Alvaro Morata, and Gonzalo Higuain have inherited the number. not here.

After scoring in Chelsea’s 3-0 win at home to AC Milan in October, Aubameyang was asked if he was worried about the curse of wearing the number 9 jersey.

He replied (h/t Football London):

“I don’t know, I don’t listen to this kind of thing. I love the No.9 so I took it. I’m happy with that and hopefully, I can score more goals.”

Since saying the above words, he has only scored once in his last 13 appearances in all competitions for the club.