I Almost Quit Football – Aubameyang

Arsenal forward, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has disclosed that he almost quit football when he was young.

Speaking recently to Arsenal’s website, he admitted that he hated the game as a youngster, but with his dad’s support, he started loving soccer again.

His words, “Back then [when he was a child growing up], we were moving around quite a lot, and I played youth football for Nice, Laval, and Rouen. Sure, it was difficult to move around a lot, but now I can see that it’s been a massive benefit as it’s helped me settle into new environments very quickly,” he said.

“I’d had some problems with my knees and I couldn’t run as fast as I had been able to, so I fell out of love with football for a bit. I didn’t have a club, I wasn’t at school, I was just at home trying to think positively.

“I don’t know why, but I thought that I had to train hard because you never know in life, something can happen.

“Then after six months of hard work, my father called me and said, ‘Are you ready to go training with a team?’ and I said, ‘Yes of course!’ because I had worked for six months for that opportunity. That was when I started to train with Bastia and from there, that was the start of my professional career.”

“I’d always admired Arsenal because of the big history and players like Thierry Henry. He was always an example for strikers and because I am also fast and score goals, I always looked up to him,” he added.

“It’s been very easy to settle here. The fans have been welcoming and of course the team have been really good to me.”