MADRID: Barcelona have signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on a free transfer from Arsenal.

The 32-year-old Gabon striker signed a contract which runs until June 2025 and includes an option to agree a departure in June 2023, plus a buyout clause of €100m.

Aubameyang said: “I’m very proud and happy to be here. “My main goal is to help the team and give everything I can to bring the team back to the Champions League.”

Aubameyang will be remembered with mixed feelings by Arsenal and their fans. The club’s last major signing under the management of Arsene Wenger repaid his £56m fee with an impressive 68 goals in 128 appearances in the Premier League and 94 goals in 163 games in all competitions over four years.

Unfortunately the collapse this past year in both his form and his relationship with manager Mikel Arteta will cast a long shadow over his record.

He was the league’s joint top scorer in 2019 and won the FA Cup in 2020. ‘His’ Arsenal were also runners-up in the Europa League and League Cup and he was briefly an inspiring captain. But disciplinary problems built up over poor time-keeping and late returns from trips back to France.

In the Covid era strict discipline has become more essential than ever and Auba set the wrong example. This season he has scored only four league goals and none in his last six appearances. Arsenal manager Arteta will doubtless think they are better off without him.

#####