Pierre Emerick Aubameyang to Newcastle United? - The Scout Report
Newcastle United have been in contact with Arsenal over a loan move for 32-year old striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, according to various reports.
There are contrasting arguments from Toon fans across the network if Aubameyang would be a good fit for the Magpies, I will deep dive into some metrics and his past to see if it would be a good move.
There are many question marks whether Aubameyang would be a good fit for the Magpies, especially considering his apparent poor disciplinary record over the past few months and sharp decrease in club form.
One thing that cannot be denied however when Aubameyang is on form, he has the potential to be an incredibly lethal striker.
Although, it could be argued that Aubameyang has lost his explosive pace and has had a heavy decline as of late could the right manager get a song out of the forgotten man? Let’s not forget a few years ago, Newcastle’s interest in Aubameyang was strong, is this interest still apparent?
Looking at Aubameyang’s form, it all appears to have gone downhill since the forward’s bumper contract renewal in September 2020. Perhaps, the Gabon man has lost a bit of the motivation and drive that made him one of the World’s best strikers. It seems a long time ago since the pacey forward banged in 22 league goals in consecutive seasons (2018/19 & 2019/20).
Since then, the ex-Arsenal captain has seen a sharp decline in performance, with goal return down at 10 league goals last season (29 apps) and 4 goals this season (14 apps).
Can the Magpies afford to take a gamble on a man who may have no interest in the future of the club?
Aubameyang’s underlying data has also considerably dropped since the 2019/20 season in comparison to last season. Aubameyang’s shots per 90 minutes metric has dropped from 2.58 to 2.16 from the 2019/2020 season to the 2020/2021 season, a nearly 20% drop off in goal attempts. Moreover, Aubameyang’s shot on target percentage dropped to 33.9% from 40% in the same period, perhaps a good indication that Aubameyang may have lost his killer finishing instinct that made him so effective for the Gunners.
Furthermore last season, Aubameyang ranked 96th in the Goal-Creating Action metric out of all the Premier League players, a shockingly poor statistic for a striker of his calibre. To conclude Aubameyang’s abysmal metric decline, his progressive passes received metric has completely disappeared. In his apparent ‘peak’ season of 2019/2020, the Gabon man received the 9th most forward passes. Last season, he ranked 29th – perhaps due to a positional change or a lack of movement in the final 3rd. This is a concern for a striker who will be expected to make lots of ‘in behind’ runs for the Magpies.
Although it is to be expected of a player in his early 30s to have a drop off in performance levels, the rate of Aubameyang’s slide in performance has been frightening.
He was due at AFCON this month, but has returned to North London early, meaning he could be available to play sooner than first anticipated; despite a recent health scare.
Although the statistics suggest the Aubameyang transfer may be one to stay away from, if football was all about underlying data, the history books would look a lot different. It must be acknowledged that perhaps that with a change of manager and scenery , could Aubameyang witness an Indian summer and fire the Magpies up the Premier League table?
It cannot be denied that on his day Aubameyang is a match winner, but can the Magpies afford to take a gamble with relegation looming on the horizon?
I will let Mr Howe and the board decide that one!
