The striker has been quite the waste of money at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were clearly desperate for a new striker in the summer transfer window and the Blues made the panic decision to bring former Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back to the Premier League.
However, his signing has proven to be disastrous for Todd Boehly, as the former Gabon international is now costing the Chelsea chairman a fortune while sitting on the bench for Graham Potter’s side.
How much has Aubameyang cost Chelsea?
Barcelona wouldsignthe experienced striker on a free transfer from Arsenal in February 2022 and he impressed during his brief spell at the Nou Camp,notching13 goals and one assist in just 24 appearances.
This was enough to convince Boehly to bring him back to England in September 2022, with the 33-year-old signing in a deal worth£12m, which perhaps always looked like a risky deal for the Blues given his age and the disciplinary issues that saw him ousted from Mikel Arteta’s side the season prior.
He was also offered a hefty£160k-per-weekcontract by the west London side, which means he has set the Blues back around £4.5m in wages in the 28 weeks since he signed, taking his overall fee to around £16.5m, which is a significant price to pay for a bit-part player.
Aubameyang has gone on to make just18 appearancesfor Chelsea in his six-month stay, registering a disappointing three goals and one assist, so it was no surprise that Potter opted toleave him outof his squad for the Champions League knockout stages, especially as hislast startwould come in early January.
BBC pundit Chris Sutton summarised Aubameyang’s stint at Stamford Bridge after his lacklustre display in the 1-0 home defeat against Manchester City.
Hesaid: “I’m always wary to criticise players for lack of effort or poor body language but Aubameyang absolutely epitomised that. I thought he was woeful and hopeless and didn’t give anywhere near enough.
“He looked disinterested and I suspect Graham Potter will be thinking, ‘blimey, he is never going to play in a Chelsea jersey again under me’.”
Unfortunately for Potter, Aubameyang’scontractwith Chelsea is set to run until June 2024, which means that they need to shift him this summer if they are going to avoid paying his wages for another year.
With further attacking additions likely in the summer transfer window, it seems clear that the 33-year-old’s time in the Premier League is over, with his signing likely to go down as one of the worst of the Boehly era.