Comparing Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Didier Drogba’s Numbers at the Age of 34

• At 34, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is on top of his game
• He is outscoring top African players in Europe this season
• He has more goals than Didier Drogba had at the same age

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has made it clear that Didier Drogba is his football idol.

The Ivory Coast legend has inspired millions of African footballers, including Victor Osimhen.

At 34, Aubameyang is still on top of his game and is enjoying his football at Olympique Marseille this season.

Aubameyang and Drogba spent their formative years in football in France before earning big moves to other top European clubs.

Drogba had to wait until he was 23 to enjoy top-flight football. After that breakthrough in the early 2000s, Chelsea came calling.

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Aubameyang's transfer to Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany's biggest clubs, helped him elevate his game to a world-class level. Here's how the numbers of these two African greats stack up at the age of 34.

Aubameyang's career summary

The Gabonese career started in France at FC Rouen in the 2000s. By 2007, he was in AC Milan books, but he didn't impress at the club.

It resulted in loan moves to Lille, Monaco, and Saint-Etienne before he joined the former on a permanent deal. In the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons, he scored 35 goals in Ligue 1 which earned him a move to Borussia Dortmund, who were flying high in Germany.

He spent five seasons at the club and battled Robert Lewandowski for the Golden Boot many times. In each of those seasons, he scored in double digits.

The 2015/16 season was his best in the Bundesliga. He scored 31 goals in 32 appearances and clinched the Golden Boot ahead of Lewandowski. He is the only African to win the Bundesliga Golden Boot.

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The Marseille veteran scored 98 times in 144 Bundesliga matches for Dortmund. In five seasons at the club, he registered 141 goals and 36 assists in 213 appearances.

He joined Arsenal in January 2018 and went on to enjoy a good spell at the club. The former Monaco striker wore the Gunners jersey for four and a half seasons, scoring 92 goals in 163 games. Aubameyang won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2018/19 season.

He fell out with Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, and was forced to leave the club. The former AC Milan star joined Barcelona briefly and won La Liga in the 2022/23 season. He recorded 13 goals in 24 appearances at the Spanish club. He later joined Chelsea but failed to recapture his scoring touch.

This season, at Marseille, he has 29 goals in 49 appearances.

Drogba's numbers at 34

The Ivorian turned 34 in March 2012. That year, he masterminded Chelsea's incredible Champions League victory, the first in the club's history.

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That was the last season of his first spell at Chelsea, and it was special. The former Marseille striker arrived in 2004 at a time when the club was looking to win big things.

In his first spell, he won three Premier League titles and two Golden Boots. The 46-year-old returned for one season in 2014/15 and won the league under Jose Mourinho, who was also in his second stint as Chelsea boss.

He went on to play in Turkey, China, and USA before announcing his retirement in 2018.

When he left Chelsea in 2012, Drogba had registered 157 goals in 341 appearances. Before his transfer to Chelsea in 2004, he had scored.

At 34, The African legend had scored 228 goals in 517 appearances, which included games for Marseille, Guingamp, and Le Mans.

The former Ivory Coast international is considered the most influential African footballer ever.

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All stats courtesy of Transfermarkt.

How Drogba inspired Aubameyang

Sports Brief earlier reported on Aubameyang opening up on Drogba's influence on his career.

The Gabon forward disclosed that Drogba helped him choose Gabon over the country of his birth, France.