Is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among the best strikers in the world?

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Photo: Dirk Vorderstraße/Wikimedia Commons
 
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been the subject of intense transfer speculation over the month of January when the English Premier League has its transfer window open. Worryingly for Arsenal fans, it has been the Spanish giants Barcelona who have been the ones making admiring glances at the Gabonese-born forward.
Regardless of what happens with the 30-year-old and whether he ends up at the Nou Camp or not, this sort of interest does make you wonder if, in fact, Aubameyang is indeed the best striker in the world. So far this season he has scored 16 goals in 26 appearances for Arsenal and has also contributed with an assist. So in plain English, the Arsenal forward has been involved in 17 goals in his 26 games which is quite frankly phenomenal going. 
When you take a step back and look at Aubameyang’s record at Arsenal for not just this season but his entire time there over 24 months after he joined from Borussia Dortmund, the reading gets even more impressive. In 91 games Aubameyang has scored 57 times and chipped in with 13 assists, which means that the 30-year-old has contributed towards 70 goals in 91 games during his time at the Emirates. Those are the stats of a player who is smack bang in the prime of his career and the biggest clubs in Europe know just as much.
You can all of a sudden see what a fight Arsenal will have on their hands if they fail to get into the Champions League this season. It’s not looking too positive for the Gunners either, especially if you have a look at the latest Space Casino football betting which has the North London side at 22/1 to finish in the top four. That’s a tough ask in anyone’s book to overcome those odds.
Now, normally, good players who are stuck in dead-end teams begin to show some frustration from time to time and there was a hint of that with Aubumayang after he was sent off against Crystal Palace in the middle of January, following what can only be described as a horror tackle on Max Meyer
In fairness, it was one of these challenges that look a lot worse when slowed down under the microscope of a replay and it was Aubameyang’s first and only red card in his career, which is quite something when you consider he has made 494 professional appearances. It wouldn’t be fair to read too much into this and describe the situation as one where the Gabonese player was acting out but the timing, however, was quite curious. 
The Barcelona whispers won’t go away anytime soon and are likely to hang around well into the English summer but that is probably another indication that Aubameyang is among the best strikers in the world.
 
 
 
 

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