Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Age: 23
Club: Saint-Étienne
Position: Forward. Can also play as a Left or Right Attacking Midfielder
Previous Clubs: AC Milan. Monaco, Lille, and Dijon on loans.
Value (according to transfermarkt.com): €10million
History
Aubameyang – I remember him from his loans with Lille and Monaco but he didn’t begin his career in France. He may be a French youth academy product but wasn’t popular at his time in France. PEA was born in Laval, France with his mom from Laval and his dad from Gabon. He played in youth teams at Laval, Toulouse, Nice, and Rouen. PEA was played as a defender and was known for his great defensive skills! His last team in France was SC Bastia before he got an offer from AC Milan’s sporting director Ariedo Braida who was very interested in signing the player in 2007. His father at the time worked as a French and African scout for AC Milan, his older brother Willy was a AC Milan player, and his other brother Catilina just left Milan to join Ajaccio. It was an irresistible offer for Aubam who accepted the offer.
He headed to Italy and impressed instantly. He was AC Milan’s front man in the Champions Youth Cup held in Malaysia and scored seven goals in six matches. He won the Roberto Bettega Trophy for being the top scorer and left the tournament with several clubs already looking the talented player. In 2008/09 season he headed to Dijon FCO on loan who were in the French Ligue 2 at the time. He scored 8 goals in 32 Ligue 2 matches and was even part of the World Soccer’s Talent Scout section in Summer 2009. In 2009 PEA rejected to play for Italy, played a friendly for France U-21, before deciding to leave to join the Gabon national football team on 25 March 2009.
Aubam joined Lille on loan in 2009/10 season in what PEA felt like a dream! He appeared 14 times for the French club and scored 2 goals before being loaned out to Monaco the next season and scoring 2 goals in 19 matches. During his time at Monaco, Saint-Etienne wanted to sign the player on loan and signed him in January of 2011, where he played for them for the last 6 months. He scored goals against Auxerre and Sochaux. He then extended his contract with St. Etienne for the entire 2011/12 season where he played on loan. On December 22 of the same season he signed a 4 year contract with St. Etienne. He scored a whopping 16 goals in 36 Ligue 1 matches with 11 assists that season. On top of that he scored 2 in the Coupe de France, and scored 3/assisted 3 in the African Cup of Nations of 2012. Massive year for the Gabon international with major interest from several clubs at the end of the 2011/12 season.
This season, Aubameyang has showed his importance to St. Etienne scoring 8 goals in his first 12 matches. He went on a goal drought for a while before ending the streak against his former club SC Bastia on January 27. At the end of the season, Aubameyang scored 19 goals in 37 matches with 14 assists in the Ligue 1. 7 goals came in other domestic competitions in what Aubameyang can call a successful season. During the January transfer window he had interest from several clubs but rejected to stay at St. Etienne until the end of the season.
Style of Play
Credit to Christophe Galtier who played PEA as a striker this season flourishing his abilities and techniques he couldn't give as a winger. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has the skill package to become one of the best. As a forward. his height, size, and athletic abilitiy are important factors of the 23-year old player. His speed and sharpness during attacks are top attributes of the St. Etienne star. The pace he has in the final-third of the pitch is an exasperation to the Ligue 1 defenders. His technical ability makes it harder for defenders to deal with him. On top of that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is known for scoring with both feet abling him to score from both sides of the pitch.
Aubemeyang loves to cut inside and plays a major role in St. Etienne's counter attacks this season.,He will be mostly known for his hazardous attacks though.. All players have weaknesses and Aubemeyang has a major one to deal with. PEA's weakness is crossing in, something a natural winger should know how to do. Many chances were missed this season from Aubameyang's crossing and would prefer cutting in instead. The player is inconsistent this season lacking in finishing at times, and is a languorous defender. An ideal striker would have defensive abilities but PEA is disinterested in defending - something he should change. Finally, Aubameyang may seem selfish at his decision making.This problem happened many times this season which most probably frustrates his teammates and the club.
In the end, all players have their pros and cons but Aubameyang has a bright future ahead of him if he focuses on the football and puts away his selfishness and attitude he has.
Experts on PEA:
Andrew Gibney (Editor of French Football Weekly. @Gibney_A ): 'He has finally found his feet at ASSE. Plays better when not the focal point of the attack. Impresses when cutting inside onto his right foot. Great pace and movement, possesses that little spark of magic. Needs to fully concentrate on football and not €1000 warm up boots. Could become a special player, not quite there yet, next 18 months are critical.'
Matthew Richards (French Football Writer @LePetitCarre and part of @TNC_Ligue1:
Personally I’m a huge fan of P.E.A’s movement something that people can miss sometimes. He’s extremely hard to mark as he drifts into the little pockets of space. If there’s grass a head of him he can be relentless as well. Head down and off, he takes the most direct route something that Saint-Etienne have utilised well this season with a good counter attacking approach.
Maybe the only criticism is he does have a tendency to be greedy. Now whether that is because he has the responsibility of being ‘the man’ for ASSE or if it’s just a natural trait but it does creep in occasionally from game to game. In truth though with 9 goals and 5 assists already this season his end product justifies his self confidence.
It’s hard to say if he’ll ever be a ‘big time player’ but he’s got time on his side and with a good finish to the season a move to a bigger club won’t be far away. For now though he is most certainly a key component in Galtier’s plans.
Jonathan Johnson (Sky Sports’ Le Gossip Writer. ESPN’s PSG Blogger and part of French Football Weekly @Jon_LeGossip):
16 goals and 6 assists last year for a player previously considered a wide man is an impressive haul. The Gabonese’ conversion into a striker by coach Christophe Galtier has been brilliant. 10 goals and 5 assists in 22 games this year is the confirmation that we needed after last season to confirm his consistency.
Likely to leave in the summer, he is one of Galtier’s key players. ASSE’s side is set-up to make the most of its speed and width, which added to a strong defence, makes the team hard to beat. Especially away.
Andrew/Swanny from @MarseilleUK
For me PEA is a strong attacking player. Seems versatile: fast, good in the air, predatory instincts in the box, good with the ball at his feet. For me, he’s still a little ‘raw’ and unpredictable. If he stays with ASSE he could become very good. Concerned that a move would hinder his progress as a player
