Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang broke jaw in fight with gunman during robbery on his home
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's move to Chelsea from Barcelona in January 2022 came just days after the forward and his family were subjected to a horrifying burglary in Spain
by Dan Marsh · The MirrorPierre-Emerick Aubameyang has recalled the harrowing encounter with burglars that left him with a broken jaw.
The former Arsenal star, 35, and his young family were subjected to the ordeal in January 2022. It took place during the transfer window, with Aubameyang waiting on news of a potential move to Chelsea.
Aubameyang left Barcelona just days after the incident but the traumatic experience has had a lasting affect on both him and his family.
Speaking to The Athletic, Aubameyang recalls: “My eldest son came running and said to me, ‘Dad, some guys are in the house’. I said, ‘Just hide’. They came in from outside, where my wife was smoking with my cousin and her boyfriend. They took him (the cousin’s boyfriend) and came into the house. My wife was screaming. They had a gun.”
Aubameyang details how he went upstairs with a "big bottle" in order to confront the intruders. He continued: “At the same time, my sister-in-law was there with our little one. I said to her, too, ‘Just go. Try to hide somewhere’.
“This is when I saw the guys. There were four or five, I think. One had the gun and said to me, ‘Just go down’. I said, ‘No, no, no. Tell me what you want’. We talked and he said, ‘Sit down’. I said, ‘No’. This is when he started to punch me.”
Aubameyang recalls how a man wearing gloves containing metal broke his jaw after punching him multiple times, adding: “I wanted to fight but one guy went down and took my kids and sister-in-law,” he says. “At that point, I couldn’t do anything. If you do something wrong, something can happen to them. We went through the house and I gave them what they wanted, so we could be OK.”
While a return to London provided some respite, the mental scars remain. Aubameyang's youngest child struggled to sleep for a year after the intrusion, with the striker admitting it was "always in the mind".
“I was always thinking about this,” he said. “I did so many nights like this: not sleeping at all, just thinking about that s**t. You have some nightmares. I’m a guy who, if I’m not sleeping well, I’m not going to give (a football team) what you expect from me, I’m not going to be at my best… Every time the kids are alone, they are scared.
“I still have that house, but haven’t gone back since. I think I’ll start to rent it because my kids don’t want to go to Barcelona. Their school organised a trip there — they said, ‘No chance I go’.
“I made a mistake not talking to anyone. If I had someone to talk to, a therapist or psychologist, maybe it could have helped. But I didn’t want to do anything. To tell you the truth, I was lost.”
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