Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been an indispensable figure up front for Arsenal since his arrival at the Emirates from the Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund back in January 2018.
The Gabonese striker coming up clutch in difficult phases of the game has been a recurring theme in Arsenal’s season.
The stats provide further evidence of Arsenal’s reliance on the African star with over 30% goals coming from him in the Gunners’ sum in the Premier League. Aubameyang has increased his tally up to 49 goals in the Premier League while registering 10 assists to date.
He’s our most important player.
Stats wise, there’s no question about the impact that he has on this team.
Mikel Arteta on Aubameyang
However, the Arsenal boss admitted that a star with such potential and stats would look to demand more from his team and the club.
With the emergence of new rumours linking Auba with a move away from Arsenal, the Gunners faithful are slowly grasping the fact that they might have to let go their beloved striker come the start of next season.
However, this recent report stating the possibility of the Gunners replacing the Gabonese ace with the Burnley striker Chris Wood has had Arsenal fans convulsed with laughter given the absurdity of the rumour.
On paper, this seems quite a mismatch in stature, or at least that’s what the fans think given their reaction on social media.
Let’s get real for a second, and try to go behind the scenes to see if this rumour is really that ludicrous as it seems in the first look.
Woods has scored 11 goals in 26 games this season in the Premier league, of which, five goals came from set plays which are more than any other player this season.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are one of the worst if not the worst team in the air in the whole Premier league, only Newcastle United have conceded more attempts from dead ball situations than the Gunners. He’s got a decent chance conversion rate of 1 in every 4.8 [chances] compared 1 in every 6.5 for Lacazette.
Woods plays for a Burnley side, whose playing style was branded as “anti-football” by David Luiz back when he played for Chelsea. Burnley play by far the highest percentage of long passes of any team in the Premier League – 23.5 per cent in total, so it’s safe to say Woods plays a crucial role in this.
He may allow Arsenal to play a different style, to be that serious option in the opposition area, maybe perform the role that Giroud used to play.
Many people will scoff while listening to these rumours, surely Chris Wood isn’t “The” replacement if Aubameyang is to say goodbye to the Gunners. While Chris Woods being the direct replacement of Aubameyang certainly raises some questions, the Clarets star surely can prove to be a handy option to bring in from the bench given his proven track record in the Premier league.
