Why Liverpool Should Go All Out For Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is easily one of the most wanted and most sought-after forwards in Europe right now. The Borussia Dortmund marksman is on the shopping list of almost every big club in the continent and was even strongly linked with a £61million move to French giants Paris Saint-Germain a few weeks back.
However, as per latest claims from Le Parisien, the 28-year old fancies a move to Premier League outfit Liverpool. This piece of news is sure to send the Kop into a tizzy, given that the club has been scouring the transfer market for a quality striker and have had their eyes on Aubameyang for quite some time now.
Liverpool finished the season placed 4th in the Premier League, earning a spot in the playoff stages of the UEFA Champions League for the season ahead. Under Jurgen Klopp, the Reds have been making good progress and were even considered to be in the running for the league title when the season began, until a bout of injuries in the second half of the season somewhat derailed their campaign.
With Champions League football back at Anfield, Liverpool will be looking to reinforce their team with world class talents, so that they can equip themselves to put up a stronger challenge on both domestic and European fronts.
While their defensive issues have been laid bare for everyone to see, the Reds are also in need of a top class forward, who can deliver 20 plus goals per season on a consistent basis. Ever since the departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona back in the summer of 2014, Liverpool have lacked that menacing presence at the top of the attacking line. And for them to emerge as genuine title contenders once again, they will need to address that issue.
And there is nobody better than Aubameyang who fits the bill more perfectly for the Reds. The 28-year old hitman is one of the most lethal forwards in football and has been slaying the opposition defences in Germany on a regular basis for years now. In his four seasons with Dortmund, Auba has managed to net a total of 120 goals for the club in all competitions, from 189 appearances. His goal return has continuously been on the rise since his first season with the club back in 2013-14.
This past campaign, he finished last season as the Bundesliga top scorer with a tally of 31 goals from 32 games, scoring a goal every 90 minutes. Only Lionel Messi (Barcelona, 37 goals), Edinson Cavani (PSG, 35 goals) and Bas Dost (Sporting CP, 34 goals) scored more league goals than Aubameyang across all the top leagues in Europe last season. He added 9 more strikes to his name in the UEFA Champions League and the DFB Pokal combined, to take his tally to 40 goals for the season from 46 games in all competitions.
A proven performer on the biggest stages, the Gabon international is someone who will fit in seamlessly with the heavy metal gegenpressing style of play that Liverpool employ under Klopp. After all, it was the German tactician who brought Aubameyang to Dortmund back in 2013 and played a prominent role in his progress and growth into one of the most feared forwards in the game. His blistering pace, combined with his top notch technical ability and exquisite finishing make him the ideal forward to have in this Liverpool line-up filled with flair players like Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino etc.
Le Parisien also claims that Liverpool will need to offer a transfer fee in the region of €70 million to sign the striker. While that is a large sum of money, the fact that forwards like Antoine Griezmann and Romelu Lukaku are valued higher than that (both scored 26 goals in 2016/17 season) indicates the current state of the transfer market and when one takes that into consideration, the €70million valuation does seem like a steal for the quality that Aubameyang will be able to bring to the team.
At 28, the Gabon star is entering the best years of his career and will be at the peak of his prowess for the coming few seasons. He has shown enough class and pedigree to succeed at the topmost level and has that quality to be the difference between a top four finish and the league title for Liverpool. It is a no brainer really that Liverpool should just blindly splash the cash on Aubameyang, if they are to announce themselves as serious title contenders again.