Happy January transfer window deadline day! The Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang move from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal is now finalized and formally announced; thus completing a a transfer saga that saw a ton of drama and tension between the two clubs over the course of its development.
The Aubameyang deal, for £56 million, breaks the Arsenal club transfer fee record for the second time in as many transfer windows. Another striker, Alexandre Lacazette, came over for £46.5 million this past summer, so this shatters that record by about ten million, and obviously, we’ll see this record continue to get broken over and over and over again moving forward.
This deal was so big that it triggered a chain reaction/domino theory. Michy Batshuayi left Chelsea on loan to replace Aubameyang at BVB, while Olivier Giroud moves from Arsenal to Chelsea to be his replacement at Stamford Bridge. Got all that? Well, it helps that we’ve had a couple days already to digest all of this.
For more on the Batshuayi deal go this link. For more on Giroud go to this link.
Aubameyang will wear number 14 at Arsenal, and he reunites with one of his former teammates at Dortmund, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who moved over earlier this window in the Alexis Sanchez deal.
We've confirmed @Aubameyang7's number… https://t.co/RfplY5As1P
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 31, 2018
Friends reunited ?#YoPierre pic.twitter.com/BKFnKNyqpS
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 31, 2018
Here is an excerpt from the first interview Aubameyang conducted as a member of Arsenal. Enjoy!
What is it about Arsenal that you like so much, that appealed to you?
I think the club has such a big history and great players like Thierry Henry. He’s an example for us strikers. I’m really happy, like I said before.
What is it about Thierry that you loved so much?
Because he was fast and scored a lot of goals. He’s really an example.
Aubameyang will most likely make his debut in an Arsenal shirt Saturday against Everton.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune corporation blogging community Chicago Now.
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