Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has an Arsenal tattoo – but comments about ‘weird’ Tottenham will quickly endear him to Chelsea fans

Football rivalries. Not something to be taken lightly.

It's inevitable, then, that former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's move to London rivals Chelsea feels slightly odd for the west London fan base.

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Of course, he is not the first to have played for both clubs. Olivier Giroud, Ashley Cole and Cesc Fabregas are just three of the many players to have made the switch from north to west London.

But although Auba once bled Gunners red and even has an Arsenal tattoo, the striker's comments about Arsenal's rivals Tottenham Hotspur will be music to Chelsea fans' ears, given they share Arsenal's hate for them.

Disliking Spurs and playing for Arsenal go hand in hand, with both clubs forming a rivalry after the Gunners moved from south of the river in Woolwich to Tottenham territory in north London.

So during Aubameyang's four-year spell at the Emirates, it was inevitable he'd also come to not be too fond of Tottenham - which is a trait he'll need at Stamford Bridge.

In fact, he's scored eight goals against them during his time career.

And his thoughts on Spurs have become clear over the course of his career. Even before he arrived at Arsenal...

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'Weird' transfer collapse

Whilst playing for Borussia Dortmund in 2016, Aubameyang revealed he nearly signed for Spurs in 2012 when he was at Saint-Etienne.

At the time of the admission, Spurs were in need of bringing in another striker alongside Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor.

And before playing the north London side in the Europa League, Auba said on the failed move: “In the end everything became a bit weird — I didn’t really like the way things were done.

“If Spurs ever came back in me for me, I’d say no.”

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Who knows what could have been - but it's clear Auba's always seen Spurs in a weird light since.

Special Celebration

As revealed recently in Amazon Prime's 'All or Nothing: Arsenal', Aubameyang revealed that he saw his games against Tottenham as so important he had to dedicate any goal to his late grandfather.

"Nobody knows about the story. This is the first time I'm telling it to people, why I'm always doing the star while I'm playing against Tottenham," Aubameyang said ahead of last season's North London Derby at the Emirates.

"Back in 2016, I lost my grandfather and we played against Tottenham that day.

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"So, that's why I'm doing the star always against them because that day I remember I scored twice for him and I was really happy. That's why, since then, I always do something for him, so here's my star."

He went on to score in his side's 3-1 win.

'I really don't care'

Two months after the NLD, the striker spoke to a Gunners fan at a fan Q&A. When asked what he would rather do, retire or join Spurs, Auba went into further detail on his thoughts on the club.

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"You don’t need to ask the question,” he responded. “You know it already. I would retire.

“I don’t know if you know this, but a few years ago, I was close to signing for Tottenham. In the end… I don’t know what they did. So I’d rather retire!"

When asked about Spurs appointing Antonio Conte as manager, the then-Arsenal skipper said: “I’ll be honest, I really don’t care. That’s not my problem, really.”

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With a natural dislike for Spurs already in his blood, it's likely Auba will feel at home at Stamford Bridge pretty quickly and he'll certainly relish playing against Tottenham again for Chelsea.

Even if he does have a Gunners tattoo...