Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has reportedly signed a contract with FC Barcelona. The Gabonese striker will also follow in the footsteps of the previous Arsenal captains who moved to Barca.
Until now, the Barcelona camp has not announced the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. However, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has conveyed that Aubameyang’s contract has been signed and registered. In fact, a photo shows that Aubameyang has attended a Barcelona training session.
Aubameyang himself was brought by Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018. He captained the Gunners in the middle of the 2019-2020 season. At that time, Arsenal gave the captain’s armband to Aubameyang from Granit Xhaka. However, in December last year, Aubameyang’s armband was removed.
The reason, the player is considered to have violated the disciplinary rules of the club. Now, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will start a new adventure in Barcelona. Before Aubameyang, there were already a number of players who had captained Arsenal and then moved to Barcelona.
Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry left Arsenal in the summer of 2007 after serving the North London club for eight seasons. Not only serving as team captain, Henry was the Gunners’ goal machine at that time.
Eight seasons in uniform for Arsenal, Henry was able to pack 226 goals from 370 appearances. However, the desire to appear more competitive made Henry accept Barcelona’s proposal.
“Competition is above all for me. That’s what drives me,” Henry said in an interview with UEFA about his move to Barcelona. “When I went to Barcelona, Ronaldinho was on the left, Samuel Eto’o was in the middle, and Lionel Messi was on the right, and nobody told me I was going to play. You can go somewhere and your heart can stay in another place. That’s what happened,” said Henry.
Thierry Henry played for three seasons at Barcelona. He successfully won various prestigious titles including two La Liga trophies and one Champions League.
Cesc Fabregas
Arsenal made Cesc Fabregas the main captain in the middle of the 2008-2009 season, replacing William Gallas. Four years after the departure of Thierry Henry, the Gunners again lost their captain.
Barcelona once again became the team that hijacked Arsenal’s captaincy. Barcelona redeemed Fabregas from Arsenal for 29 million euros in the 2011 summer transfer market.
The Spanish midfielder returned to his boyhood club. Just like Henry, Fabregas lasted three seasons at Barcelona. In the summer of 2014, Cesc Fabregas returned to England. However, it is not to Arsenal, but to a rival team, Chelsea.
Thomas Vermaelen
Thomas Vermaelen served as captain of Arsenal after the departure of Robin van Persie to Manchester United in 2012. However, the emergence of the duo Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny at the back of the Gunners made Vermaelen’s chance to play became thin.
In the 2014 summer transfer market, Vermaelen moved to Barcelona after the Barcelona camp redeemed him for 15 million pounds. However, Vermaelen’s career at Barcelona did not go smoothly. He is often plagued by injuries so he is not the main choice for Barca’s defense.
