Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has explained why he took the number 14 shirt upon joining Arsenal in January 2018.
The number was previously owned by Theo Walcott but became free when the Englishman left for Everton earlier that month. Of course, the number 14 was made popular by Thierry Henry and has become an iconic forward's number since his time at the club.
Although this may have been thought to be Aubameyang's inspiration to take the shirt number, he had his eyes on another before his move to north London was even confirmed.
With former Borussia Dortmund teammate, Henrikh Mkhitaryan signing nine days before him, and Alexandre Lacazette at the club since the summer, neither of his favoured numbers were available.
"I like two numbers, nine and seven, but he [Lacazette] has the number nine and the seven was Mkhi," he told Arsenal's official YouTube channel.
"I asked Mkhi before he came 'you will take the number seven?' and he said 'I think so' so I said okay, I will try something else. Yes [ I could have got it when he went to Roma] but I scored a lot of goals with this number so I leave it like this."
Aubameyang hasn't got his hands on one of his favoured numbers since departing Saint-Etienne, where he donned both numbers nine and seven.
In his four-and-a-half seasons at Dortmund, he had 17 as seven and nine were occupied by Jadon Sancho, Ousmane Dembele, Jonas Hoffman, Robert Lewandowski, Ciro Immobile, Adnan Januzaj Emre Mor and Andriy Yarmelenko.
Since taking the number 14 at Arsenal, Aubameyang has lived up to the pressure that comes with that shirt, however. In the Premier League, his 49 goals have shot him up to ninth in the Gunners' top scorers in the league and this season, he has contributed 42.5% of their Premier League goals.
In all competitions, his 61 goals in 97 appearances have been key but with his contract winding down, a decision is left to be made on the 30-year-old's future. Arsenal's dependence on him will ensure they try their hardest to keep him but whether that is possible will no doubt depend on what they can offer him on the pitch moving forward.
