Tre Motrat Epizodi 44 E Merkure Pjesa 2
Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is to return to the Gabon side a year after announcing his international retirement.
James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will all leave Liverpool at the end of the season, the club has confirmed.
All four players’ contracts expire this summer.They were all part of the side that won the Champions League in 2019 and Premier League in 2019-20.
A statement from Liverpool said: “All four players will depart with our gratitude and appreciation for the contribution they have made.”
The club added that special tributes would be paid to the players in the Reds’ final Premier League home game of the season against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had already outlined the club’s intentions to be active in the summer transfer window.
His side have had a difficult season but seven consecutive wins mean they now sit fifth in the Premier League and could still qualify for the Champions League.
Milner and Firmino joined the club in 2015 under Brendan Rodgers and went on to win a historic Premier League title in 2020 – the club’s first top-flight triumph in 30 years – as well as the FA Cup last season.
Former Manchester City midfielder Milner, who has made 330 appearances for the club, has been linked with moves to Brighton and Leeds.The 37-year-old has made 617 Premier League appearances, the third highest in the league’s history.
Firmino became the highest-scoring Brazilian striker in Premier League history in 2019 and now has 80 goals in 254 top flight appearances but has not played since March.
The 31-year-old will be best remembered at Liverpool for his time playing alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane as part of a prolific front three under Klopp.
Klopp had said he wanted Firmino to stay and, although the forward had been in discussions over a new contract, he has chosen to move on.
Keita, who scored 11 goals in 129 appearances, signed in 2017 but has made just 12 appearances this season having struggled with injuries.
Meanwhile Oxlade-Chamberlain has also struggled for minutes this season, making just 13 appearances, the last of which was against Real Madrid in Liverpool’s Champions League last-16 exit.
The 33-year-old retired as his country’s record scorer, with 28 goals in 68 appearances, in May 2022.
The forward said the return was prompted by a meeting with the African country’s president Ali Bongo Ondimba.
“(I) listened to the wise words he said to me as a father talking to his son,” Aubameyang posted on Instagram.
Gabon, led by former La Rochelle defender Patrice Neveu, are currently top their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification group.
They can seal their place at the tournament in Ivory Coast next January, with a game to spare, when they host Democratic Republic of Congo in June.
“A few days ago, I had the immense honour to be received by the President of the Republic (of Gabon) Ali Bongo Ondimba,” Aubameyang’s post added.
“Following this, I therefore put myself at the disposal of my country and of the coach Patrice Neveu.”
The French-born forward, who made his debut for Gabon in 2009, has endured a number of difficult club campaigns in recent seasons – including being stripped of the Arsenal captaincy in December 2021 before moving to Barcelona in the following transfer window.
He has now been linked with a summer move back to the Nou Camp, where he started the 2022-2023 season.
The Catalan club confirmed Aubameyang will get a La Liga winners medal from their title win this season despite playing for only eight minutes before his move to Chelsea.
Aubameyang was first brought to the Premier League from Borussia Dortmund in 2018 by then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and scored 92 goals in 142 starts for the Gunners.
However, he has only scored once in the Premier League for Chelsea this season and, despite scoring in both the home and away matches against his first club AC Milan in their Champions League group, was dropped by the Blues for the knock-out stages
