Arsenal: How are Aubameyang and Lacazette doing since leaving the Emirates? | OneFootball

Highlights

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal, the Gunners boasted two of Europe's finest marksmen at the time, with Alexandre Lacazette of course being signed the previous summer. Arsene Wenger spent big to bring in the man from Borussia Dortmund, and given how the north Londoners had predominantly played with the one-man up top, it caused intrigue over how the two would get on together.

A mixture of Aubameyang being moved out wide, to some stretches of games where they would form an old-fashioned strike duo, Aubameyang and Lacazette in their pomp seemed to have a telepathic relationship and an even more iconic celebration together. A FA Cup final success was the only significant silverware that they won, and neither truly propelled the north Londoners to anything more noteworthy than that. The duo have since made their exits from the Emirates, but to varying degrees of success. Now, we've taken a look at how their careers have gone since they left north London, and whether Arsenal may even have any regret of letting either of them go.

Alexandre Lacazette

After years of seeing Olivier Giroud lead the line for Arsenal, Gunners fans were rightly excited by the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon, and he duly got his career off to the perfect start with a goal on his Premier League debut against Leicester. While the Frenchman was by no means a total and complete flop at the Emirates, there was certainly an element of unfulfilled potential with his time at the club. A record of 71 goals in just over 200 games is nothing to be sniffed at, but it certainly didn't represent the kind of elite output Arsenal needed to make it into the Champions League again, let alone contending for a Premier League title.

It was perhaps no surprise then that after five years at the club, the centre-forward would leave Arsenal in the summer of 2022, taking the chance to rejoin his former club, Lyon, in Ligue 1. Since his move back to his native France, Lacazette has been in absolute lethal form, surpassing Bernard Lacombe to net his 150th goal and become his side's second-highest goal-scorer of all time, only behind Fleury Di Nallo with 222. In May, he would go onto score four times in the same game against Montpellier during a 5-4 win, and would finish the season with an outstanding 27 strikes in the league, finishing second in the golden boot race behind PSG's Kylian Mbappe.

Indeed, when you compare some of Lacazette's underlying stats this season with Manchester City star Erling Haaland, they do favour comparably. The former Arsenal striker has a better goal conversion rate at 27% to 25%, while he's missed just the one official big chance in his five league games, compared to Haaland's surprising nine in eight. The Frenchman has been far more clinical than his striking counterpart, and has really found his footing again back in Ligue 1 with his boyhood club.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

A signing that excited the Arsenal fan-base, to an exit that left a sour taste, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's reputation and legacy at the Emirates took a major hit with the way his departure turned out. In March 2021, the striker was left out of the starting line-up for the north London derby against Tottenham, with Arteta citing disciplinary reasons as the reason for his omission. Then, the following season against Southampton, the Gunners boss would once again drop Aubameyang pointing to disciplinary reasons, and would be subsequently stripped of the captaincy just three days later. The 34-year-old would sign for Barcelona in the winter transfer window, and enjoyed a reasonable spell with the Catalan giants, scoring 13 goals in 24 games before leaving in September 2022.

The Gabon international would then further sour relations with the Gunners fans when he made the move to London rivals and fellow Premier League side Chelsea, and as if to crank up the heat, was involved in a BT Sport promo ahead of his return against Arsenal that involved him saying "it's nothing personal". Arteta's side would duly go on to win the game thanks to a goal scrambled in from Gabriel, and it would be the Gunners who would leave Stamford Bridge with the last laugh, not Aubameyang.

The striker's time since leaving Chelsea has been more encouraging however, with his move to Marseille in the summer seeing him get back on the goal trail. While he has scored just the once in his eight league appearances for the French side, he has managed four in four in European competition. However, his brace against Panathanaikos in the Champions League qualifiers went in vain as Marseille were eventually dumped out on penalties, with the club now dropping down to the Europa League group stages.

At 34, it's difficult to see where Aubameyang goes from here, and you certainly wouldn't be surprised were he to be eventually tempted by a move to the Middle East to finish off his career. Staying with Marseille would still give him the opportunity to continue playing European football, and he certainly doesn't seem to be completely lost by playing at this level right now. While things may not have turned out the way he would have wanted - especially in the aftermath of that FA Cup win with Arsenal that saw him sign a bumper new deal at the Emirates - he has looked to rebuild his career away from the harsh spotlight of the Premier League.