Football | Aubameyang joins Arsenal for club record USD80m

Arsenal paid a club-record fee of 63.75 million euros (USD80 million) to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund yesterday, completing the overhaul of the team’s attack that was triggered by Alexis Sanchez’s departure to Manchester United.

In potentially the most significant move in the Premier League on the final day of the January transfer window, Aubameyang joined Arsenal in a deal that should result in Olivier Giroud leaving the club in the coming hours — reportedly to London rival Chelsea.

The 28-year-old Aubameyang will compete with, or maybe complement, offseason signing Alexandre Lacazette up front as Arsenal looks to make up an eight-point deficit to the Champions League qualification positions in the Premier League.

Another new face in Arsenal’s attack is Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the playmaker who arrived from Manchester United last week as part of the swap deal that took Sanchez to Old Trafford. Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang linked up to great effect when they played together at Dortmund in the 2015-16 season, scoring 62 goals between them in all competitions.

Mkhitaryan welcomed Aubameyang in a video message on Arsenal’s Twitter feed.

In total, Aubameyang scored 98 goals in 144 games for Dortmund in the German league after joining from Saint-Etienne in 2013 and was the top scorer last season with 31. Only eight players from Europe’s top five leagues have scored more goals than the Gabon striker since the start of 2014-15 season.

Arsenal inadvertently posted a video on its website in the early hours of yesterday, during which manager Arsene Wenger confirmed the signing of Aubameyang in an in-house interview after the Premier League game against Swansea on Tuesday. The video was quickly taken down.

Arsenal lost to Swansea 3-1 in a game that exposed its weakness up front without the explosive Sanchez around. It left Wenger’s team in sixth place with 13 matches left.

The fee for Aubameyang was identical to that paid by Manchester City for France under-21 international Aymeric Laporte on Tuesday. That was also a club record — but it could be broken a day later if City manages to bring Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez to Etihad Stadium.

City has reportedly made its move for English soccer’s Player of the Year for the 2015-16 season following an injury to Leroy Sane that has ruled the Germany winger out for up to seven weeks. Steve Douglas, AP