Thomas Tuchel has challenged Chelsea’s new striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to prove Arsenal were wrong to sell him.
Tuchel completed a £10.3 million (12 million euros) deadline-beating swoop for Aubameyang on Thursday as the Gabon star was reunited with his old boss.
Aubameyang scored 79 goals in 95 appearances under Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund, earning a move to Arsenal in 2018 and finishing as joint top-scorer in the Premier League a year later.
But the 33-year-old was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy by Mikel Arteta in December amid disciplinary issues before being sold to Barcelona just weeks later.
Aubameyang declared he was returning to the Premier League with “unfinished business” in a nod to the acrimonious end to his time at Arsenal.
And Chelsea boss Tuchel admitted he will be very happy to see his new striker energised and focused to prove his point to Arteta.
“If he wants to overcome the number nine curse, or if he wants to show somebody in London he’s better than certain people think he is, then the more the better,” Tuchel told reporters on Friday.