It was inside a soulless, pandemic-impacted Stamford Bridge that the bond shared between Thomas Tuchel and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was perhaps best highlighted.
Less than an hour earlier, the two had been opponents as Aubameyang captained Arsenal to an unexpected 1-0 victory over Tuchel's Chelsea. Yet there was no animosity. No hard feelings. It's why after showering and changing, Aubameyang took a seat in the away dugout and waited to greet the German.
Tuchel had his post-match media duties to undertake – and also needed to debate a crucial penalty decision with referee Andre Marriner and his assistants as they made their exit. But then his attention firmly turned to Aubameyang, who was warmly embraced by the Chelsea head coach.
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Their relationship was forged at Borussia Dortmund. Aubmayeng enjoyed the two most productive seasons of his career at Tuchel; he scored 79 goals in just 95 matches and helped the Bundesliga giants to the 2017 DFB-Pokal.
Such was his level of performance at Dortmund, Aubameyang was indulged by Tuchel in a way few – if any – Chelsea players currently are. As the 48-year-old explained last year: "It was a pure pleasure to have him in the squad. Auba was a fantastic striker, a fantastic finisher. More than that, he was a fantastic worker off the pitch. I think he did not miss one single training in two years.
"Maybe he arrived five minutes late on the training ground, that can happen with him. But if he does this, he is in a hurry, he excuses, he feels sorry, he has still a smile on his face.
"It was a pleasure to work with him. He always had a smile on his face. He was a very, very honest guy. A bit of a crazy guy, but this is nice crazy. We still are in touch from time to time and exchange messages when one of us has a big win. In some way, he will still always be my player and feels like he will always be my player, so you want him to succeed.
"This contact [between us] never fully stopped and it’s nice to see him because he’s always on for a hug and it’s nice to see him laugh."
Given that level of affection, it's little surprise that Tuchel is keen on reuniting with Aubameyang at Chelsea. football.london understands the club are in advanced talks with Barcelona over a deal for the former Gabon international, who is expected to cost around £20million.
The deal is one desired by Tuchel, who has no concerns over Aubameyang's conduct despite Mikel Arteta letting the striker depart Arsenal at the start of the year on a free transfer after disciplinary breaches. "I experienced no issues with him, Tuchel said earlier this month. "But this has nothing to do with the situation in Arsenal, about which I will also not comment out of respect."
There is a consensus that Chelsea require a goalscorer – that none of their attacking players have scored this season gives further credence to that line of thinking. Whether Aubameyang possesses the profile needed to thrive system is a matter of debate. His personality, though, is perhaps at odds with what Tuchel has valued throughout his Stamford Bridge tenure.
"We have a very strong group who are a hard-working, very nice group of players. They like to be with each other. They train intensely, and they are very ambitious," Tuchel said in pre-season.
"For me. it’s very important. It’s the foundation to push yourself. The level of respect, ambition, the level you can leave your ego in the dressing room or even in the hotel. Maybe you don’t even have an ego. This is very important to build a strong group.
"Football is, and always will be, a team sport. For this, you need a certain atmosphere, and this is what we are trying to create. The players are a fantastic group, how they are with each other."
Chelsea are confident of reaching an agreement with Barcelona in the coming days that would reunite Tuchel with Aubameyang. The hope is he can finish the chances the Blues create and be the difference in the tightest of matches. Yet that was the hope 12 months ago with Romelu Lukaku – and Tuchel can't afford for history to repeat itself.
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