Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Arsenal could not have been on more contrasting paths since the pair parted ways back in January of last year.
While the Gunners are currently flying high at the top of the Premier League table boasting a five-point advantage over nearest challengers Manchester City, Aubameyang's career has hit another low point just over the road at Arsenal's London rivals Chelsea.
The 33-year-old has been omitted from the Blues' revised Champions League squad for the second half of the season as they gear up for the knockout rounds of European football's premium club competition. Aubameyang has been forced out to make room for Chelsea's plethora of new signings, including club record signing Enzo Fernandez.
Having been exiled from the first-team fold in North London last year by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for a 'disciplinary breach', Aubameyang trained alone before eventually seeing his lucrative contract terminated. He joined LaLiga giants Barcelona on deadline of the 2022 January transfer window.
The manner in which he managed to secure that move still leaves a sour taste in Arsenal mouths. Aubameyang took it upon himself to fly to Barcelona before either the Catalan club or the Gunners had even agreed that a transfer would take place.
It was a bitter end to Aubameyang's Arsenal career, a club whose supporters once held him in the highest regard, though his eventual switch to Chelsea burned the last of his Gunners' bridges.
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While he managed to net goals at a decent rate for the Blaugrana at the Camp Nou, their perilous financial position meant when Chelsea came knocking with £10million on offer for Aubameyang's signature, Barcelona were in no position to reject.
Eight months after leaving London, Aubameyang was back and had swapped the red of Arsenal for the blue of Chelsea, who were then managed by the striker's former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel.
The duo lasted one game together before Tuchel was dismissed from his post and eventually replaced by Graham Potter, who has not exactly taken a liking to Aubameyang, as exhibited by this latest decision.
It is a move that simply hasn't worked out from Aubameyang's perspective. He has scored just once for Chelsea in the Premier League, while he is former team-mates mount a serious charge for the title.
If being left out of Chelsea's Champions League squad isn't the lowest point of Aubameyang's recent career, the image of Arsenal's players celebrating around him following the Gunners' 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge last November might just be it.
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