Chelsea offload Aubameyang as Pochettino's revolution continues

21 July 2023 , 17:07

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Chelsea offload Aubameyang as Pochettino's revolution continues

Marseille have confirmed the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang after Chelsea allowed the forward to leave on a free transfer.

The 34-year-old has joined the Ligue 1 side following a year-long spell at Stamford Bridge, where he scored just three times in 21 appearances. All of Aubameyang's Chelsea goals came within a 10-day period last October as he struck in their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace and in back-to-back matches against AC Milan.

Aubameyang's move marks another change to the Chelsea squad as Mauricio Pochettino continues to rebuild following his appointment as the club's manager in May.

The Blues had already sold Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Ethan Ampadu for a combined £218million, while several players have also departed either on loan or on free transfers.

Cesar Azpilicueta, N'Golo Kante and Abdul-Rahman Baba have all departed without a transfer free inserted, with David Datro Fofana leaving on loan to join Union Berlin. Tiemoue Bakayoko left upon the expiry of his contract in June, while Joao Felix and Denis Zakaria have returned to their parent clubs.

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Aubameyang is now the 16th senior player to leave the Blues after Chelsea chose to tear up his contract and allow him to depart on a free transfer. The forward, who had a year left on his deal in west London, was pocketing around £160,000 per week during his time at the club.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be an option for Frank Lampard (James Gill/Getty Images)

He initially made the switch to Chelsea from Barcelona for £10million last September under Thomas Tuchel, who previously worked with the striker at Borussia Dortmund. However, Tuchel was dismissed shortly after and replaced by Graham Potter.

Potter handed Aubameyang a chance in the side and he impressed in the two Champions League games against AC Milan, and the Premier League trip to Crystal Palace. But Aubameyang failed to find the net in any of his matches since under Potter, and then caretaker boss Frank Lampard, who took over in April for the final 11 matches of the season.

Aubameyang particularly struggled in Chelsea's trip to Arsenal at the start of May. When asked about the forward at the time, Lampard said: "I'm not going to comment on individuals in the game. I'll talk about a collective and it's the performance.

"I understand what you said that Chelsea fans will talk about the players not caring. I don't believe that. They're lads that want to do well for this club. But they have to understand what that means and what that entails every day, from training every day for a game, how you prepare, how you maintain yourself."

Kieran King