Top Facts You Need to Know about Arsenal striker, Aubameyang

In January 2018,

signed

for €63.75m. He became the Gunners’ record transfer when he made the switch from

.

Aubameyang had a fantastic season last year becoming the eighth different player in the history of Arsenal to win the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in a season.

It is notable that the striker’s 27 goals last season were scored with his right foot and 4 with his left. Although he prefers to shoot with his right foot, he is also comfortable to use his left foot to cross or shoot.

Wenger said on signing Aubameyang after selling

to

, “We need people who can give us more offensive power.”

“I would say overall his pace, his finishing, the quality of his runs, the quality of his reception, including cross and overall his huge physical capacity to repeat runs. Of course that will be important in the

because the physical challenge is very high,”

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Wenger added.

Aubameyang started his career in football by joining

’s youth team in 2007.

The Gabonese striker is very popular with over 6.7m followers on Instagram and 900k on Twitter. He is living with his French girlfriend, Alysha Behague, and their young sons Curtys and Pierre Aubameyang.

The followings are some lesser known facts about the explosive striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang:

Aubameyang biography

Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang, born 18 June 1989, is a professional footballer who plays as a forward and is the captain of both English Premier League club Arsenal and the Gabon national team.

Boating a phenomenal scoring record, Aubameyang is considered to be one of the best strikers in the world. He is mainly known for his pace, finishing, and off-ball movement. The Gabonese plays as a striker, but has also been deployed as a wide forward.

Aubameyang’s father, Pierre Aubameyang, was also a football player, who played for a host of teams like Nice and Toulouse. He made 80 appearances for Gabon national team.

Aubameyang has two citizenship of French and Gabonese, but grew up in Italy along with his two brothers, Willy and Catilina. They played for AC Milan youth teams, where their father worked as a talent scout.

Later,

showed interest to sign the striker

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from Saint-Etienne. Although Aubameyang had rejected them in 2013, the Magpies returned with a lucrative deal in 2014. But his father advised him to turn the opportunity down.

Therefore, Aubameyang signed a contract with Dortmund as his father was a fan of Jurgen Klopp who was the manager of the club at that time. In fact, he chose to sign for Borussia Dortmund even if it meant less money.

Aubameyang’s wife

Alysha Behague and Aubameyang have been together for a long time. Alysha was born in Lille in 1986 and studied at Lycee Gaston Berger.

The pair reportedly started dating when the Gabonese star was at Saint-Etienne (2011-2013).

Alysha followed him to Italy, France, and Germany before his mega-money move to the Premier League, sharing his thrill at driving iconic cars and going on shopping sprees.

Aubameyang and Alysha have two sons. They welcomed their first child, Curtys, in August 2011.

Pierre was born in 2016, with Aubameyang repeating his father’s idea of giving his son his name.

Aubameyang’s expensive shoes

Aubameyang is definitely a flamboyant player. Many believe that his extremely daring fashion sense is not a cry for attention, but a passion. He took his lavishness to another level with a pair of custom-made boots,

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costing approximately £2,500.

The reason for the extremely high value of the boots is that they are coated with the highly expensive Swarovski crystal. The work was delicately done, given that no less than 4,000 tiny crystals were used.

The boots had numerous tiny jewels with his name, number, his club’s crest, and colors engraved on it. However, it was reported that he didn't play in the boots; he just warmed up in them and took them off before the game.

Aubameyang is among the fastest players

Aubameyang is the first ever Gabonese player to represent the Gunners. At 31, he is the Premier League’s fastest player.

Aubameyang is able to race 30 meters in just 3.7 seconds. His pace has helped him score 61 goals in 97 appearances for Arsenal as the Gunners desperately try to keep the striker.

Aubameyang is scientifically destined to be among the greatest strikers in the world, known for his pace, finishing, and off-ball movement. He is practically custom-built for speed and agility.

Aubameyang plays not only as a striker, but also as a wide forward.

Aubameyang awards

Ligue 1 African Player (2012/13)

Ligue 1 Team Of The Year (2012/13)

CAF Team Of The Year (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)

Prix Marc-Vivien Foe (2013)

UEFA Europa League Squad Of The Season (2015/16)

Borussia Dortmund Player of the Season (2014/15)

Bundesliga Team Of The Year (2016/17)

African Footballer Of The Year (2015)

Bundesliga Player Of The Year (2015/16)

Facebook FA Bundesliga Player Of The Year (2016)

Bundesliga Top Goal Scorer (2016/17)

Premier League Player Of The Month (October 2018)

Premier League Golden Boot (2018/19)

Yaya Toure’s reaction to Aubameyang winning African Player of the Year

Aubameyang, who scored 18 goals in 17 Bundesliga matches for Dortmund, was presented with the African Player of the Year

award in the Nigerian capital of Abuja in 2015 after a vote of coaches and technical directors from Confederation of African Football nations placed him ahead of Yaya Touré.

Toure called awarding African Player of Year to Aubameyang as pathetic. He believed that he should have finished ahead of Borussia Dortmund striker.

“We favor more what’s abroad than our own continent,” the midfielder said.

“I’m very, very disappointed. It’s sad to see Africa react this way, that they don’t think African achievements are important,” he said to reporters.

Touré, who won the award in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, added, “I’ll give an example. Messi won all the trophies but it’s Cristiano Ronaldo who won the award [Ballon d’Or 2014]. What would you say? It’s unfair.”

Aubameyang’s Real Madrid dream

Every sincere child attempts to fulfil the dreams of their parents since they obviously sacrifice their dreams so that their children can achieve theirs.

For Aubameyang, it is all about fulfilling a promise that he made to his grandfather while he was on his deathbed that he would play for

someday.

Aubameyang’s mother told to reporters that the whole family are a bunch of Real Madrid supporters, and they all want to see the Gabon international play for the Blancos.

Aubameyang’s father

Anyone who has a little idea about Aubameyang knows that he is very close to his father. The fact that he played for Borussia instead of a team in the second division of England is because of his father’s advice.

But what is lesser known is that Pierre Aubameyang Sr. was a footballer himself who also happened to captain the Gabon international team during his playing career.

A defender by trait, Aubameyang Sr. played 80 times for his national team and later became a scout at AC Milan.

Aubameyang’s introvert character

Despite his flash boots, cars, and hairstyle, Aubameyang is actually quite shy. His teammates described him as “a quiet lad” who doesn’t drink alcohol and always dreams about football.

It is believed that putting up a smile on the pitch is uncommon with footballers since many of them come to the pitch with only one thing on their mind, and that is victory, while there are a few who just want to have fun irrespective of the outcome of the game.

Everybody loves Aubameyang as he always plays with a smile on his face. He is full of personality and sometimes celebrates goals by wearing superhero masks!

Ronaldo is Aubameyang’s role model

Although Aubameyang is a huge fan of Thierry Henry, he always names Ronaldo as his biggest role model in the game.

Aubameyang described Ronaldo as a ‘giant of a player’, who was dynamic, strong in the air, and technically-gifted.

Today, Aubameyang is the role model of so many players around the world. Saint-Etienne winger Denis Bouanga has described Arsenal striker as his role model and is

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looking to follow the path of his Gabonese teammate, who he referred to as his ‘idol.’

Aubameyang in Italy

Aubameyang is currently the highest scorer in the history of the Gabonese National team. He is also the captain of the team and is its greatest ever player. However, it could have been a lot different had he chose to represent Italy.

Since Aubameyang was brought up in Italy and had lived there for a long time, he was eligible to play for the Azzurri. In fact, because of his talent, the Italian federation wanted to tie him up with them.

Therefore, he was invited to play for the Italy U19, but he rejected the chance.

Aubameyang is the highest scorer in Gabon’s history with 24 goals in 59 appearances. The striker grew up in Italy when his father got a job at AC Milan as their head scout. He was eligible to play for them and thus he was invited to play for the Italy U19s.

Ebola charity match hat-trick

Aubameyang took part in a charity match to fight Ebola, playing against a Ronaldo-Zidane XI team.  He enjoyed the privilege of meeting some of his footballing heroes, when he took part in a benefit match hosted by his former club AS Saint-Etienne to raise money for victims of Ebola.

Aubameyang, who was playing for his former side Saint-Etienne, scored a game-winning hat-trick after coming on as a 63

rd

minute substitute.

Aubameyang, the man of firsts

Aubameyang was the first Gabonese player ever to play in the Bundesliga, and to score a hat-trick on his league debut.

He also became the first and only Gabonese to score a goal in the Olympics when he smashed in the ball against Switzerland in London 2012.

Aubameyang is a goal-scoring machine but he was always not as successful as he is today. The striker struggled early on in his career which prompted AC Milan to part ways with him for only €1m.

When he arrived at Borussia Dortmund, Aubameyang made a bet with his coach, Thomas Tuchel that he would cross the 20-goal mark that very season.

Aubameyang revealed, “I want to score 20 goals in the Bundesliga this season. That’s a target I want to achieve. I have a bet with the coach so I will give it my all in order to achieve this goal because I want to improve.”

Mid-way through the season, the Gabon international had 18 goals in 17 games!

Aubameyang goal celebration

Aubameyang is accustomed to performing a dexterous forward flip after scoring a goal.

The 31-year-old absolutely loves Batman. He draws inspiration from the animated characters and even includes them in his goal celebrations.

"I needed a mask that would represent me," Aubameyang told reporters.

"It is a Black Panther and in Africa in Gabon we call the national team the Panthar of Gabon.

"It represents me," he continued.

Aubameyang's incredible mansion

Aubameyang has reportedly a stunning £16million mansion in north London. The Gabon striker could not find a permanent home following his club-record move from Borussia Dortmund.

He used to park his incredible array of cars outside his hotel, but later he had his own seven-bedroom home with a luxurious parking lot. It has a home cinema, a swimming pool, and a gym along with a 129 ft long garden.

Aubameyang’s cars

The Gabon international has various luxury models to choose from, including a Range Rover Sport Mansory, Ferrari 812 Superfast, Lamborghini Aventador, and Porsche Panamera Turbo Techart.

“I was born with speed and, as a fast player, I need a fast car too,” Aubameyang said.

“People can hear me coming to the training ground. I love to hear the engine running."

He has posted pictures of himself in various sports cars over the years, and according to reports, he has a motor collection worth more than £1m.

Aubameyang net worth

Aubameyang’s deal until 2021 at Arsenal gives him a weekly wage of £198,000, meaning that he earns more than £10m annually.

His major sponsorship deal is with Nike. They also provided a custom-made Spider-Man mask for him to use in his customary goal celebrations!

Aubameyang has been a hit since arriving at Arsenal. His net worth is estimated to be $30 million.

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