Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still has a future at Chelsea says Graham Potter despite Champions League omission
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Updated 04/02/2023 at 11:55 GMT
Graham Potter insists Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still has a future at Chelsea despite being left out of the club's Champions League squad following the January transfer window. The Blues spent in excess of £300m with eight new players coming in, leaving Potter with a tough decision when naming his players for Europe. "Pierre is a professional and, of course, I understand he will be disappointed"
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang still has a future at Chelsea, claims boss Graham Potter.
The 33-year-old has been left out of the Blues’ Champions League squad following the January transfer window, with the club spending in excess of £300m on eight new recruits.
Aubameyang started all six group matches, scoring two goals, as Chelsea topped Group E to set up a last-16 clash with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, February 15.
However, he has lost his place as new signings Enzo Fernandez, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Joao Felix are all included.
Aubameyang was allowed the weekend off as he missed Chelsea’s goalless draw with Fulham in the Premier League on Friday night, with David Datro Fofana featuring instead.
But Potter hasn’t ruled out Aubameyang’s chances of returning to the starting XI.
"Pierre is a professional and, of course, I understand he will be disappointed,” said Potter.
“It was a tough decision, a tough call. We had three coming in and two had to go out. He was the one that missed out, he's done nothing wrong at all.
"We wanted to give David some game time today to see where he's at and to give him that opportunity. I think you saw that one flash that he's got. Pierre is just unfortunate and he will be fighting for his place for the rest of the season.
"He trained today, he trained very well and he's got the weekend off so we can report on Monday. It's a free world.
“Everything is up for grabs. He's got to keep working, train like he did today and be ready to play because football changes quickly. That's the nature of the game.
"Whichever decision we made there was always going to be a conversation about it but it was my decision. It was a tough decision absolutely, sometimes you have to make these calls but it's absolutely nothing bad against him. He's done nothing wrong at all.
"It was difficult because I am empathetic so I understand his disappointment but I've got a responsibility to make these tough decisions and to articulate them as honestly and as well as I can to the player and then respect the fact that he's going to be disappointed.
"He's handled it very well, trained today fantastically which is what I would expect. He's been a top guy for us."
Defender Benoit Badiashile, a £35m January signing, also misses out of the Champions League squad.
Noni Madueke, who was signed for £30.7m from PSV Eindhoven and fellow new arrivals Andrey Santos and Wesley Fofana were also excluded.
However, Hakim Ziyech, whose proposed loan move to Paris Saint-Germain collapsed on deadline day, kept his place.
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