Former Gabonese captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been left out of Chelsea’s squad for Champions League knockout stages. The 33-year-old started all six group games, scoring two goals, but hasn’t played since November 6.
According to manager Graham Potter, Aubameyang has done nothing wrong, “Pierre’s a professional and I understand he will be disappointed. It was a tough decision,” Potter explained.
“We had three coming in and two had to go out. He was the one that has missed out. It’s absolutely nothing bad against him. He has done nothing wrong at all.”
Aubameyang was left out of their 0-0 Premier League tie with Fulham on Friday, with 20-year-old January signing David Datro Fofana coming on in the second half.
“We wanted to give David some game time today to see where he is at,” said Potter. “Pierre’s just unfortunate and he will be fighting for his place for the rest of the season.
“He has handled it very well and trained today fantastically which is what I’d expect. He’s been a top, top guy for us.”
Morocco winger Hakim Ziyech, whose intended loan move to Paris St-Germain fell through, retains a spot in Potter’s squad, despite teams being limited to registering a maximum of three new players for the remaining matches in this season’s campaign.
Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Joao Felix are the new signings included.
Chelsea paid a British record 121 million euros (£107 million) to sign Argentine World Cup champion Fernandez from Benfica.
Mudryk arrived at Stamford Bridge in a transfer valued up to £89 million from Shakhtar Donetsk, soon after the club had recruited Portugal forward Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid.
On Wednesday, February 15, Chelsea will play the opening leg of their last-16 knockout game against Aubameyang’s former side, German club Borussia Dortmund (20:00 GMT).