The Athletic conducted a special interview with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who reminisced about his experiences at Chelsea and Marseille, while also looking ahead to his future.

Transferring to Chelsea with Bittersweet Feelings

In the summer of 2022, Aubameyang signed a two-year contract with Chelsea after being signed from Barcelona. The main reason for this move was his desire to reunite with Thomas Tuchel, who had coached him at Borussia Dortmund.

"If Tuchel wasn't at Chelsea, I wouldn't have left Barcelona," Aubameyang said. However, just a week after the transfer was completed, Tuchel was fired from Chelsea after their loss in the Champions League to Zagreb Dinamo.

Aubameyang appeared in the game with a protective facial mask over his wounds, but his performance was far from his best. He recalled, "I played against doctors' advice. When you arrive at a new place, you want to show your dedication immediately. That was the worst game of my life, but I had to play."

Changes in the Relationship with Tuchel and Chelsea's Chaos

Aubameyang recalled the change in his relationship with Tuchel. "After that game, I felt he changed," Aubameyang said. "He wasn't the same person who I knew in Dortmund a few years ago. We were very close then. He was the only one who really understood me. But at Chelsea, I felt he wasn't happy."

Days later, Tuchel was replaced, and Chelsea brought in Graham Potter from Brighton. In October, Aubameyang scored three goals in three games, but his playing time drastically decreased after Chelsea's home defeat to Arsenal. He explained that he repeatedly requested more playing time from Potter, but Potter stated that he preferred using Timo Werner instead.

By February 2023, Aubameyang was excluded from the Champions League squad and considered a peripheral player for the team. He said, "That was when I started to feel very disrespected. They tried to loan me out to America, but I said 'absolutely not'."

"From that moment on, I knew this season was over for me. I just went to training to stay in shape because I knew I wouldn't be playing."

After Potter's dismissal in April and Lampard's temporary takeover, Aubameyang felt that the decisions were beyond any individual's control and came from the club's higher-ups.

Chaos in the Chelsea Dressing Room

With the team expanding and many veteran players being sidelined, Aubameyang described the situation as "a complete mess." "It's not like a football dressing room anymore; it's more like an American football one," he said. "Hakim Ziyech, Zakaria Chukwuebuka Joe Emmanuel and other teammates... But thankfully, I'm not alone. We laugh every day to make things better."

Despite this, Aubameyang bears no ill will towards Chelsea and praises the club for now being stable and competitive again. He believes that Chelsea needs a "big center-forward" like Didier Drogba in the past to provide goals for the team. He admitted that he couldn't fill that role at that time.

"I never established that connection," Aubameyang said. "There was no connection at all. Fans wanted to see the Aubameyang they knew from Arsenal, but I wasn't ready and didn't get chances then. And because of what happened in Barcelona, I wasn't at my best either. It was a chaotic year but a chance for me to catch my breath."

A Rebirth at Marseille

In July 2023, Aubameyang signed a three-year contract with Marseille and returned to France where he has had a chance to reprove himself. "When I wasn't in the matchday squad for Chelsea, I took a photo and said 'We'll see who's watching and who's playing next season,'" he recalled. "When I arrived at Marseille, my mindset was 'you will see the real Aubameyang.'"

However, in his first 17 games for the club, he scored only five goals before being replaced during a match against Lille and sparking discontent from the crowd. This moment touched him and motivated him to change his approach to football. "I told myself 'I can't accept this,'" he said. "Now I need to change the game and be more aggressive."

In a subsequent Europa League match against Ajax, Aubameyang scored a hat-trick and ended his first season in France with 30 goals from 51 games.

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