Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang makes a shock reversal in international retirement as Chelsea striker returns to Gabon
CHELSEA striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is set to return to the Gabonese team – a year after announcing his retirement from the national team.
Ex-Arsenal star Auba hung up his boots after scoring a record 28 goals in 68 games.
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A meeting with the Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba in his home country was decisive for his about-face.
Aubameyang, 33, later said on Instagram: “I had the great honor of being received by the President while listening to the words of wisdom he passed on to me.”
Gabon’s next game is an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in June.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona star stopped playing international football in May 2022.
Now he’s back after one of his toughest seasons in club football.
The £350,000-a-week veteran often struggled to even get on the bench in a Chelsea squad full of underperforming players.
Caretaker manager Frank Lampard took him out of the wild against Arsenal on 2 May – but he was substituted at half-time in a 3-1 defeat
Most significantly, Lampard’s predecessor Graham Potter dropped him from the club’s Champions League squad in January.
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And this despite the fact that the Blues lacked suitable strikers at the time.
That means Aubameyang will definitely need a new club this summer.
