The three Africans played together at Chelsea and seem to have had one of the strangest periods of their careers there. The Gabonese tells the details.
A year and a half after his complicated time at Chelsea, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has decided to break the silence. During an interview given to The Athleticthe attacker Gabonese returned to the struggles experienced with the Blues during the 2022/23 season. Between incomprehensible decisions and a locker room in crisis, Aubameyang did not mince his words, particularly pointing the finger at management’s choices.
A nightmarish season
Arrived at Chelsea in 2022, Aubameyang has never managed to win. In 21 matches played, he only scored 4 small goals, a statistic far from his usual standards. Everything changed with the dismissal of his ex-coach Thomas Tuchel just after his arrival and his replacement by Graham Potter:
« That’s when I started saying, ‘OK, this is very disrespectful.’ They tried to send me on loan to the United States. I said: No chance. I knew I wasn’t going to play and the season was already over for me “, he explained, visibly bitter.
Aubameyang also criticized the leaders’ decisions, calling them chaotic:
« They made quite a mess. It didn’t even look like a football locker room, but more like a rugby locker room. »
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To hold on, Aubameyang was able to count on the support of his companions in misfortune, who were also deprived of playing time, as Moroccan Hakim Ziyech and the Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly :
« Hakim Ziyech, Denis Zakaria, Kalidou Koulibaly, Romelu Lukaku… It was good not to be alone. We laughed every day, so it was okay “, he added.
Ziyech: the descent into hell
Among his companions in trouble, Hakim Ziyech experienced one of the most difficult periods of his career at Chelsea. Recruited for 40 million euros in 2020, the Lion of the Atlas has never been able to establish itself. In three seasons, he played only 104 matches, scoring 14 goals and providing 13 assists.
After several failed transfer attempts – notably to Paris Saint-Germain and Al-Nassr – Ziyech finally left the Blues for Galatasaray in the summer of 2023. A release for the Moroccan, greeted by Aubameyang on Instagram: “ All the best to you my friend. Free Ziyech », Wrote the Gabonese striker, accompanied by mocking emojis and a heart.
The Moroccan, like Aubameyang, has endured a succession of humiliations, including being excluded from the pre-season tour of the United States and not being given a number for the upcoming season. These struggles symbolize a maligned management of Chelsea, where several stars like Koulibaly and Romelu Lukaku were also pushed out. Bitter memories for these African players.
