0 shots, 38 touches: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struggles in Arsenal draw

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Arsenal produced a stunning comeback on Sunday to draw 3-3 with West Ham. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is providing Mikel Arteta with a sizeable conundrum, however.

The Gunners fought tooth and nail to get the striker tied to a new contract in the summer. Eventually, he agreed to fresh terms worth £250,000-a-week, pledging his future to the club.

Since penning those terms, something has changed. Aubameyang hasn’t quite been at his free-flowing best, managing just nine goals in the Premier League this season.

During 2019/20 the 31-year-old scored 22 goals in the top-flight and was viewed by plenty as one of the most feared marksmen in the Premier League.

It doesn’t seem likely that Aubameyang will scale those heights this season and Alexandre Lacazette has arguably been better through the middle.

Yesterday, some statistics shown by Who Scored highlighted a real struggle for the 51-time Gabon international.

Aubameyang failed to register a single shot during the 80 minutes he was on the pitch.

Perhaps more worrying was that despite starting on the right-wing, only goalkeeper Bernd Leno managed fewer touches of the ball during the contest.

Aubameyang arrived at Arsenal from Dortmund in 2018, costing the Gunners £56 million. 

He has scored 84 goals and registered 16 assists during 140 appearances for the club during his time in North London.

The overriding feeling among supporters is that Aubameyang has proved money well spent by the club.

Ultimately he has to be judged on the here and now, however, and his form at times this season has been a real worry.

Arteta is staring a conundrum firmly in the face and he needs to get his talisman back to his best once more.