Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaves for Marseille as Chelsea exodus gathers pace

Mauricio Pochettino has continued his Chelsea clear-out with striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completing his move to French Ligue 1 side Marseille.

Marseille confirmed the signing of the 34-year-old Gabon international on Friday, which brings an end to his miserable time in west London.

Aubameyang scored one goal in 15 Premier League appearances for the Blues and was left out of the squad for the Champions League knock-out stages by then boss Graham Potter in February.

Aubameyang has previous experience in Ligue 1 having played for St Etienne for two years from 2011 and 2013 as well as loan spells with Dijon, Lille and Monaco.

The former Arsenal striker joined Chelsea on a two-year contract from Barcelona last September in a deal that saw Marcos Alonso move in the other direction.

But he struggled to settle following the departure of boss Thomas Tuchel and it became increasingly evident that his stay at Stamford Bridge would not be a long one.

Aubameyang follows the likes of Kai Havertz and Mason Mount out of the club this summer while Romelu Lukaku – who preceded Aubameyang in the club’s supposedly “cursed” number nine shirt – Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi are all absent from the club’s current pre-season tour of the United States.