Chelsea striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang has recalled his failure to make the grade at AC Milan after he prepares to face his former club on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old returned to the Premier League in the final days of the summer transfer window after a successful eight-month stint with Barcelona, which was his first spell in Spain after success in Germany, France and, more recently, England with Arsenal.
But it was in Italy, the other of Europe’s top five leagues, where a young Aubameyang - who scored his first Chelsea goal this weekend against Crystal Palace - failed to deliver.
“I know Milan well,” Aubameyang told reporters after the 2-1 win at Selhurst Park. “At that time, the team was really strong, to tell the truth. Ronaldo, [Paolo] Maldini, [Alessandro] Nesta… I was very young. That is why I chose to go on loan for a few years. I was just trying to improve and looking at [Ronaldo] to learn as much as I could.
“To tell the truth, he was a bit fat by then! But he was still the best. I will always remember when Carlo Ancelotti had a go at him about his fitness, he said, ‘What do you want me to do, run or score goals?’ Ancelotti said, ‘score goals’, and the next game Ronaldo scored twice!
“It that is part of the character and as a striker, you need that because you have to be strong mentally. I was just a young kid among all those stars, just playing and training. I was just trying to get as much as I can and pick up all these things in my career.”
One of the attractions of a Chelsea move for Aubameyang was to play in Champions League, a luxury he missed out on during four years at Arsenal.
“Definitely [I missed playing in the Champions League],” he continues. “Now I am back again so I have to show what I am capable of doing.
“I am also really happy to get back to the Premier League with a goal. When you are a striker you just want to get that first goal as soon as possible and it came today so I am really happy.
“Even more so that we won the game. We had great attitude [against Palace], even though we were down at one point, we came back and showed great character and I am really happy.”
