After unsuccessfully trying to move the chair to most of the beneficiaries of Josep Maria Bartomeu’s oversized contracts, Joan Laporta’s Barça has had to scratch the fair play financial necessary to finish strengthening the squad through a piece that did not appear on any list of transferables. The last and frenetic day of the transfer market has confirmed the final point in the relationship of convenience of the Barcelona club with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who returns to London to have more prominence at Chelsea than he expected in Barcelona in the shadows by Robert Lewandowski.
The Gabonese striker says goodbye after a short but profitable spell. 13 goals in 24 official matches contemplate a footballer who arrived on a free transfer, with a symbolic salary during the first six months of his journey, and who has been a paradigmatic example of what immediate performance means. Aubameyang needed no adjustment to understand why Barca had made the titanic effort to recruit him on the last day of the winter market. He put on a substitute number (25) and, despite the fact that Xavi Hernández preferred Álvaro Morata in his place, he immediately deserved the consideration of indisputable. It didn’t take long to finish the crosses of his colleague Ousmane Dembélé into the net, to move intelligently with and without the ball and, in short, to throw down the reputation of being unprofessional that dragged him from his last stretch to the ‘Arsenal, in which Mikel Arteta withdrew his captaincy. All with a contagious and sincere smile that entered the eyes of a fan with long faces and bad news, still touched by Leo Messi’s farewell tears.
Aubameyang has paid several tributes in half a year of Blaugrana idyll. He won’t mark an era at the Camp Nou like Ronaldinho, but, like the former Brazilian player, he has helped to spread joy in a moment of widespread drowsiness. He does not play with glasses or receive the appellation of Pitbull of the core, but, like Edgar Davids in his day, his intervention during a specific time has served to achieve a sporting goal as basic as going to the Champions League. He has not provided two assists in a European Cup final coming off the bench, but, like Henrik Larsson in his prime, he is a veteran striker who has produced an extraordinary performance for Barça.
Shocked by an unfortunate robbery experienced at home, and with a cracked jaw because of this episode, Aubameyang returns to the Premier League with a relaunched career and leaves the only noteworthy surplus value for Barça in this market. His time in Barcelona will go down in the history books and set a trend. He will be remembered for much more than his brace in a brilliant classic at the Bernabéu. Thank you and a hug.
