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Graham Potter says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ‘did nothing wrong’ after axing the veteran striker from Chelsea’s Champions League squad to accommodate three new signings.
On Friday afternoon, it was revealed that the west London club’s new-look 25-man list for the rest of their European campaign included Premier League record signing Enzo Fernandez, winger Mykhailo Mudryk and loan arrival Joao Felix.
Chelsea were only permitted to add three players to their squad, meaning fellow January additions Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos all missed out.
But they also had to remove one previous player, with Aubameyang the big casualty from Chelsea’s enormous January spending spree.
Although the 33-year-old has struggled for goals domestically this season – netting just once in 11 Premier League outings – he had been more influential in the Champions League, with his two goals and two assists helping the side reach the knockout stages.
To make matters worse, Chelsea are due to take on Aubameyang’s old club Borussia Dortmund in the last 16, but the Gabon striker has been denied a reunion back in Germany.
Later in the day, Aubameyang was then absent from the matchday squad that drew 0-0 against Fulham in the Premier League, but Potter insists the forward does have a role to play this season.
Asked if Aubameyang is still part of his plans, Potter told Sky Sports: ‘Yeah of course. I had to explain it. It was a tough call because he’s done nothing wrong.
Chelsea’s Champions League Squad
Defenders
Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly,
Cesar Azpilicueta, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana
Goalkeepers
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcus Bettinelli, Edouard Mendy
Midfielders
Enzo Fernandez, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount, Denis Zakaria, Hakim Ziyech, Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka
Forwards
Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Kai Havertz
‘But we wanted to give minutes to David [Datro Fofana against Fulham] and give him that opportunity. But Pierre is with us, he’ll be with us for the rest of the season, and he’ll be fighting for his place.’
MirrorExpanding further at his press conference, Potter said: ‘I don’t think it’s going to be difficult because Pierre is a professional and of course I understand he’ll be disappointed. It was a tough decision, a tough call, we had three coming in and two had to go out so he was the one that missed out.
‘He’s done nothing wrong at all. We wanted to give David some game time today, in terms of seeing where he’s at and giving him that opportunity. I think you saw that one flash that he’s got.
‘Pierre’s just unfortunate and he’ll be fighting for his place for the rest of the season.’
He continued: ‘Whichever decision we made it was always going to be a conversation about it of course. But it was my decision.
‘It was a tough decision, absolutely. But sometimes you have to make these calls and it was absolutely nothing bad against him. He’s done nothing wrong at all.
‘Everything is up for grabs. He’s got to keep working, training like he did today and be ready to play, because football changes quickly. That’s the nature of the game.’
On how Aubameyang reacted, and how difficult the conversation was, Potter added: ‘It was difficult, It’s tough, because I am empathetic so I understand his disappointment.
‘But I’ve got a responsibility which is to make these tough decisions and articulate them as honestly and as well as I can to the player. And then respect the fact he’s going to be disappointed. He’s handled it very, very well, trained fantastically, which is what I expect. He’s been a top guy for us.’
Asked about a photo of Aubameyang in Milan during Chelsea’s draw with Fulham, Potter replied: ‘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.’
Aubameyang has cut an increasingly frustrated figure at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks and looked particularly disgruntled when he was subbed off against Manchester City last month despite having been subbed on in the first half after an injury to Raheem Sterling.
He missed the subsequent FA Cup tie against the same opposition due to a back injury and was an unused substitute in Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage despite his side needing a goal.
It was previous manager Thomas Tuchel who pushed for Aubameyang’s signing in the summer and Potter has favoured using Kai Havertz as a false nine, while Felix’s arrival brings added competition up top.