Thomas Tuchel believes that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is hungry after joining the club from Barcelona on deadline day. He revealed in his pre-match press conference before their Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb that the Gabonese striker has a point to prove and could make his debut on Tuesday. Aubameyang was stripped of the captaincy by Mikel Arteta before joining Barcelona in January last season.
“We had the opportunity to take everybody who was available to Zagreb to do our last training here, that includes Denis [Zakaria] and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” Thomas Tuchel said. “Aubameyang had a test with his mask, felt fine, trained normal, so if everything goes well today, they will both be available. He’s the sort of player [to thrive in adversity], he’s very ambitious, very focused, and he’s hungry to play for us and prove a point still. That’s why he’s here, that’s what we felt from the first moment and he’s happily invited to prove a point tomorrow.”
“If an issue will come up we will not play put him, of course, but there was no issue for him yesterday and I hope there will not be an issue today,” he added. “Is he ready to start? Of course. But he cannot play 90 minutes, it’s about us taking a decision on how we manage the minutes. It’s clear he needs minutes to get his rhythm and fitness, so it is on us to find the solution if he comes from the bench or starts. We decided with Thiago [Silva] he will have a break from the traveling, from the stress, he’s played every minute so far in very intense matches. It was the moment to give him a break instead of putting him on the bench and having travel issues. He will take care of his recovery.”
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