After being stripped of the captaincy and exiled from the Arsenal squad in his final weeks in north London, one can safely say Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's transfer to Barcelona on deadline day was a dream move.
Initially, the Gabonese star was rumored to be headed to the Camp Nou on loan. The unfortunate retirement of Sergio Aguero and the disappointing displays from Luuk de Jong meant Xavi and Co. had to dip into the market for a new no.9. The Gunners were keen on getting the out-of-favor forward off their wage bill and thus came to a mutual agreement to terminate Aubemayang's contract, paving the way for him to permanently join the Blaugrana for free on a lower salary.
The 32-year-old was all smiles as he completed his medical and paperwork. However, despite having not even kicked a ball for his new club, the former Dortmund ace could be facing another nightmare as the player is in danger of missing out on Barcelona's UEFA Europa League squad.
The reason is simple: UEFA rules stipulate that a team can only register a maximum of three new players for the knockout stage after the January transfer window shuts close. This brings a dilemma as the Spanish giants have acquired four new players since last registering their squad and they are Dani Alves, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
So one of the four will have to be left out, but who will that man be? Spanish publication AS predict that it will be one of Traore or Aubameyang to miss out. Torres was their marquee signing, joining from Man City for a whopping $62M, thus guaranteeing his spot in the squad. Alves, on the other hand, has already shown his importance due to his experience, and with neither Sergiño Dest nor Óscar Mingueza impressing Xavi in the right-back role, the iconic Brazilian is a no-brainer.
Javier Miguel, who wrote that piece for AS, goes on to suggest that Aubameyang will likely be the one axed. This is down to a number of factors, one being their contract situations. Traore is on loan from Wolves and will thus only have between now and the end of the season before Barcelona have to decide whether to exercise the buy option or not. The Gabonese striker, on the other hand, has signed an 18-month contract, meaning Xavi has time to analyze his new forward.
Additionally, young wingers Ez Abde and Ferran Jutglà were not registered on the B list, meaning they are destined to be omitted, and with Ousmane Dembele being frozen out of the squad due to his contract situation, Xavi is in dire need of players who can offer him width. Traore fills this void; Aubameyang does not.
The Blaugrana are not short on players who can fill the no.9 spot, with Torres, De Jong, Braithwaite, and Depay all being viable options. As a result, this could spell bad news for the deadline day signing and his hopes of playing in Europe this season. The deadline for the upcoming squad registration is 2 February 2022 (24.00CET), meaning all will be revealed soon.
