Five things you may not know about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

The Gabon forward signed for FC Barcelona in January and is well known across the football world. But here are five things you might not know about the latest superstar to land in LaLiga Santander.

FC Barcelona had a busy winter transfer window, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang adding to the high-profile arrivals of Dani Alves, Ferran Torres and Adama Traoré. Joining from Arsenal, Aubameyang has brought goals and experience to Xavi Hernández’s squad, with the 32-year-old having already played in Italy, France, Germany, and England before making his move to Spain’s top tier. 

Having scored one goal every 153 minutes throughout his senior career, Aubameyang is a prolific penalty-box finisher and promises to wow the fans at the Camp Nou. 

He has both Gabonese and Spanish roots

Although Aubameyang was born in Laval in north-western France, he opted to represent the Gabon national team because his footballer father Pierre-François hailed from the country and even played for the national team, representing the Panthères 80 times. Aubameyang could actually have also represented Spain, since his mother Margarita is Spanish. Thanks to his mother, the new FC Barcelona star already speaks Spanish. 

He once promised to play for FC Barcelona or Real Madrid

Aubameyang’s family on his mother’s side are from the city of Ávila‎, not far from Madrid, and he has always dreamed of one day playing for one of the top teams in LaLiga Santander. “To join Real Madrid or another of Spain’s biggest clubs would be something nice for my family there,” he said in 2016. Now he finally has the chance to feature in Spanish football’s top tier, and has made an incredible start with five goals in his first six LaLiga Santander appearances. 

He had already scored at the Camp Nou

Even though he was playing at the top level of European football for several years, Aubameyang never actually came up against his new club FC Barcelona in competitive action. But he arrived already knowing what it feels like to score on the Camp Nou’s hallowed turf, netting for Arsenal against his new club in the 2019 Gamper Trophy, Barça’s traditional pre-season friendly match. 

He scored Gabon’s one and only Olympic goal

Over the years, Aubameyang has been the standout player for the Gabon national team and he is already his country’s all-time top scorer (30). One of his proudest moments actually came when he represented his nation’s Olympic team at the 2012 Summer Games in London, Gabon’s one and only appearance at the men’s football tournament in the Olympics. To this day, Aubameyang is the author of his country’s one and only Olympic goal. 

His somersault goal celebration has its origins in LaLiga

The forward has been behind some of football’s most creative goal celebrations during his career. He’s perhaps most famous for his somersaults after scoring, but few know that this celebration actually has roots in LaLiga. It’s a tribute to five-time LaLiga top scorer and Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez, who was one of his grandfather’s favourite players.