A year ago Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Barcelona recorded a four-goal victory at Real Madrid but Chelsea had deregistered the striker for this season’s Champions League knockouts.
Following his £10.5million transfer to Stamford Bridge last September from the Camp Nou, Aubameyang has failed to make an impact upon returning to the Premier League and is keen for an exit from Stamford Bridge.
He was frozen out of the side’s first team by Graham Potter, and Rio Ferdinand has hinted his presence was what was missing from the Blues two-goal loss at Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Aubameyang was a transfer deadline day signing by the Blues last summer in a move which reunited him with former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel, who was subsequently sacked a week later – with the striker struggling since. He has made just two appearances, both as a substitute, since January.
The Gabonese striker had endured the ignominy of being a substitute in January’s Premier League defeat against Manchester City only to be hauled off in the second half as his side chased an equalising goal – as his struggles to assert himself under Potter continued.
Aubameyang was left out of Chelsea's Champions League squad in favour of newer additions in west London, bewilderingly leaving the Blues without a recognised senior striker in Europe’s premier club competition – as Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz all struggled to find the net.
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Ferdinand explained on BT Sport after the match in the Spanish capital: “The problem is finding goals. You see today, chance comes their way and they don’t manage to finish it.”
The Blues created several half chances but rarely looked like finding the net, meaning they have now gone four games in a row without scoring a goal – their worst run since 1993. The ongoing chaos at the club can be summed up in that run encapsulating three managers.
Ferdinand added: “The problem is Frank as well is trying to work out the right players to play. Mudryk there, big signing, is he the right one?”
Ferdinand’s fellow pundit and another of Lampard’s former teammates, Joe Cole, said of Chelsea’s players’ confidence: “You look at some of the players and names they’ve got, in the forward line, all of them top players - Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix, Kai Havertz.
“We’ve seen them have big moments and won multiple trophies between them but you’ve got to get them some kind of belief, only a result can do that.”
Aubameyang had a respectable goal return of 13 strikes in 24 appearances last season for Xavi's side, but the summer signing of Robert Lewandowski pushed him down the pecking order and preceded his return to London – signing for Chelsea on transfer deadline of the summer window.
