'F*****g big mistake' - Former Blues striker opens up about disastrous Chelsea spell
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Former Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has described his decision to move to Stamford Bridge in 2022 as a "big mistake".
There were a lot of controversies surrounding Aubameyang's move to Chelsea back in September 2022.
To sign the striker, Chelsea struck a deal with Barcelona, reportedly worth around £10m in addition to Marcos Alonso's transfer to the Catalan side.
At the time, some Chelsea fans were understandably not very happy to see the club sign a former Arsenal player, who had just joined Barcelona on a free transfer just eight months prior.
Aubameyang's stay at Chelsea did not last long, as he soon left Chelsea in the summer of 2023 to join Marseille after a poor season, in which he scored a total of three goals for the Blues.
The striker has now made it clear that he was not happy about his Chelsea stint, either.
"It was a big mistake going there. It was a f*****g big mistake," the former Gabon international told TroopzTV about his spell at Chelsea.
"At the time, I just passed a bad moment in Barcelona. I had a home jacking and stuff like that...
"Barcelona needed to sell a player, either me or Memphis (Depay), and the only thing that was on the table (for me) was Chelsea.
"So, I said, OK, for my family, I will move away even if it's Chelsea.
"I was thinking maybe it would be OK. (Olivier) Giroud went from Arsenal to Chelsea, and they had no problem, but it was different, yeah."
In fairness, it was a difficult time at Chelsea for many people and for many reasons.
Aubameyang's move to Chelsea was initially meant to be a reunion with Thomas Tuchel, whom he already played under at Borussia Dortmund.
Unfortunately for him, the German head coach was sacked six days after his arrival and was later replaced by Graham Potter.
Potter clearly did not rate him as highly as Tuchel did, and by February, Aubameyang was dropped from Chelsea's Champions League squad.
On the other hand, Aubameyang did not produce the output that warranted a regular spot at Chelsea, either, so from a footballing perspective, it made sense for the club to offload him after just a season.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.