Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has made an impressive start to his Chelsea career (Picture: Getty)
Former Chelsea captain Andy Townsend fears Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could end up being a ‘waste of time’ if his track record is anything to go by.
The former Arsenal captain joined the Blues on the final day of the summer transfer window after his short spell at Barcelona was ruthlessly cut short by Xavi.
Aubameyang has made an impressive start to life in west London, responding to the sudden departure of Thomas Tuchel by scoring in three successive matches and underlining his importance to new boss Graham Potter.
Townsend, however, fears it is far too early to consider the 33-year-old a success and will withhold judgement until such a time when there is an inventible bump in the road.
Aubameyang has left his last three clubs under something of a cloud, most notably at Arsenal when his relationship with Mikel Arteta broke down following a series of disciplinary breaches.
The Gabon international was stripped of the captaincy, frozen out and ultimately saw his contract terminated before a move to Barcelona ensued.
‘Let’s be honest he was playing walking football by the end of his time there [at Arsenal],’ Townsend told talkSPORT.
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‘Every time I watched him I used to think ‘you don’t run around’. He’s a great goalscorer with a fantastic record I understand all of that.
‘But if you don’t charge around you’re a waste of time in modern day Premier League football.
‘Now, what will define Aubameyang for him at Chelsea as an older player if he gets left out.
‘I’d be very interested to see the reaction. And he will get left out. There might be a point where things aren’t going great.
‘Graham Potter might want to shake things up and he might think he needs a little bit more energy up top.
‘I think he’s important for them because he’s a goalscorer but I wonder how it’ll be if it goes in the other direction.’
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The former Arsenal captain has got off to the perfect start… but will it last?