Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 9 facts you probably didn't know about the striker

At a time when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are dominating the world of football, strikers have found it difficult to make a name for themselves with the aforementioned duo snatching almost all the limelight.

However, there are some exceptions. And Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of them.

The Gabonese international is one of the fastest players in the world and is always rated among the best strikers in the game. The highly-coveted star who moved to Arsenal for a club record £56m fee is a nightmare for any defence as his blistering pace leaves a lot of defeated bodies in this wake.

It is difficult to not know much about a player of his stature, but there are always some things that are lesser known and here are 9 of them.

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#9 Expensive boots

Auba’s expensive boots (via Aubameyang’s Instagram)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a flamboyant player by all means. Be it his outlandish hairstyle or fashion sense, he oozes the word ‘swag’ from every possible angle. However, he takes his lavishness to another level with a pair of custom-made boots that cost $3,918.

The reason for the extremely high value of the boots is simple: They are coated with the highly expensive Swarovski crystal. The work was delicately done, given that no less than 4,000 tiny crystals had to be used to design his name, number and his club’s crest and its colour.

We certainly hope that he has kept them in a safe; anyone can earn a fortune by stealing those!

#8 A Real dream

Aubameyang might play for Real Madrid someday

Every sincere child wishes to see the dreams of their parents being fulfilled. After all, parents are the people who sacrifice their dreams so that their offspring can achieve theirs.

For Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it is all about fulfilling a promise that he made to his grandfather while the latter was on his deathbed: That he will play for Real Madrid someday.

Aubameyang’s mother revealed once that the whole family are a bunch of Real Madrid supporters and that they all want to see the Gabon international play for the Whites.

#7 Son of the captain

(Image Courtesy: OldSchoolPanini)

Anyone who has a little idea about Aubameyang knows that he is close to his father. The fact that he plays for Borussia instead of a team in the second division of England is because of his father’s advice.

But what is lesser known is that Pierre Aubameyang Sr. was a footballer himself who also happened to captain the Gabon international team during his time as a player.

A defender by trait, Aubameyang Sr. played 80 times for his national team and later became a scout at AC Milan.

#6 Invited to represent Italy

Aubameyang was brought up in Italy and had lived there for a long time

The former Dijon starlet is currently the highest scorer in the history of the Gabonese National team. He is also the captain of the team and is its greatest ever player. However, it could have been a lot different had he chose to represent Italy.

Since Aubameyang was brought up in Italy and had lived there for a long time, he was eligible to play for the Azzurri. In fact, such was his talent that the Italian federation wanted to tie him up with them.

And hence, he was invited to play for the Italy U19, but he rejected the chance as moved on and…

#5 Played for France

Since Aubameyang was born in France, he was also eligible to play for them

Yes, you read that right. Since Aubameyang was born in France, he was also eligible to play for them just like he was qualified to play for Italy.

However, with France, he wanted to give it a shot and, hence, didn’t refuse the offer to represent the under-21 team. In the end, he just played one game for the junior side and never again donned the Blue of France.

One could only wonder as to what could have happened had he gone to represent France full-time. They might as well have won the Euro 2016 instead of Portugal.

#4 The First One

The debut hat-trick hero

After winning the Champions League with FC Porto, Jose Mourinho joined Chelsea and announced himself as the ‘Special One’ in his very first press conference in England.

If Aubameyang wants, he can do the same by labelling himself as the ‘First One’ because of the number of records that he has achieved first.

Firstly, he is the first ever Gabonese player to play in any German league. In fact, he scored a hat trick in his very first league appearance for Borussia Dortmund. Now that is some way to introduce yourself.

He also became the first - and so far the only Gabonese - to score at the Olympics when he smashed home the ball against Switzerland in a group game in the 2012 edition. So, we can actually tag him as the First One.

#3 Milan roots

The Milan officials at that time didn’t think that he had the adequate skill to play for the Rossoneri

This is a fact that might hurt Milan fans a little bit. Aubameyang was born in France, but when his father went to Italy and got a job as a scout for AC Milan, he was quickly transferred to San Siro. However, the Milan officials at that time didn’t think that he had the adequate skill to play for the Rossoneri, so they shipped him off to Saint-Etienne.

It was in France where he made his name and spring-boarded to success by joining Borussia Dortmund later on.

His brothers also played in the youth teams of Milan before being transferred out elsewhere. Just imagine if he was still at Milan. They would have certainly had someone who could do the thing that their current strikers find difficulty in doing: Scoring.

#2 Bolt of Football

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang runs at full-speed, it feels like a cheetah has possessed the man

Speed is something that fascinates almost every football fan in the world. There are only very few sights better than watching a quick player run at full throttle and outpacing defenders like there is no tomorrow.

When Gareth Bale sped past Marc Batra in the final of the Copa Del Rey in 2014, Madridistas totally lost their senses to the pumping adrenaline.

And the same thing happened to Dortmund fans almost every other week. When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang runs at full-speed, it feels like a cheetah has possessed the man. He leaves a lot of defenders chasing his shadow and makes them taste the bitter helplessness of watching him wreak havoc while they can do nothing about it.

A speedometer once revealed that the Dortmund superstar once clocked 30 meters in 3.7 seconds - something that would impress even Usain Bolt.

#1 Played at Newcastle’s non-league ground

Just imagine him at Newcastle…

This is perhaps the least known event of Aubameyang’s life as a footballer. When the Gabonese international was looking for pastures new, Newcastle were one of the clubs that were highly interested in him.

In fact, he played at Newcastle’s non-league ground, although it was because the Gabonese international team had a practice session there. However, that doesn’t derail the fact that that the Magpies wanted him, but he opted to stay at Etienne for another year before moving to Germany to play for the Gelsenkirchen club.

Just imagine him at Newcastle. They probably would never have been relegated had he been leading their line.

Note: This article was updated after the striker's move to Arsenal.