Arsenal officially completes transfer for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Arsenal have officially completed the protracted transfer for Borussia Dortmund’s forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang believed to be for a club record transfer fee of €63 million (£56 million). This move follows the departure of Alexis Sanchez earlier this month to Manchester United in exchange for Aubameyang’s former Dortmund teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and goes a very long way towards replacing the goal scoring threat that Alexis represented and left behind.

Aubameyang’s credentials need no further itemization. He’s scored an eye-watering 141 goals for Dortmund in 213 matches. He scored 16 and 19 league goals in his last two seasons at Saint-Étienne prior to his move to Dortmund in the summer of 2013. His 0.97 goals per game last season was tied for second-highest in Europe’s top five leagues (a mark only bested by Lionel Messi), and so far this season his expected non-penalty goals per game sits at 1.13, again only behind Messi in Europe.

His capture, regardless of his age, is a massive win for Arsenal as they look to retain Mesut Özil and Aaron Ramsey past their current contracts, and in a way makes their attack more dangerous than before this month began. How Arsene Wenger incorporates all of his January arrivals into his squad remains to be seen, but what a wonderful problem to have.