Aubameyang V Ronaldo: Who Would Chelsea Be Better Off Signing? We Look At The Stats

Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson firmly believes Chelsea should make a move for Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo before the transfer window closes.

He is adamant that, with the way that Thomas Tuchel’s side plays, the Portuguese legend would score a lot of goals for the Blues:

“I cannot believe they didn’t or haven’t gone in for Cristiano Ronaldo. He just ticks all of the boxes Chelsea are lacking. Playing for Chelsea is not like playing for Manchester United, who are working from the halfway line. Chelsea are on the edge of the box, dominating games. Chelsea have unbelievable wing-backs, they dominate football matches, if they were putting the ball into the box for Ronaldo I would dread to think how many goals he could score.”

In contrast, Merson has been pretty dismissive about Chelsea’s pursuit of Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, even though the club are seemingly more interested in signing the Gabonese striker. So who should they be going after? Press the next page as we take a look at the numbers (via FBRef) to determine who would be the better option.

Shooting

Based on last season’s league statistics, Aubameyang is the one who (somewhat surprisingly) comes out on top as the better finisher. His xG was 3.8 below his non-penalty goal total for both Arsenal and Barcelona.

In contrast, Ronaldo’s figure was only 0.6 below his non-penalty goal total, which suggests he wasn’t as clinical when presented with shooting opportunities.

Creativity

We will be using expected assists (xA) rather than actual assists to determine the pair’s ability to create goals for others, as it is a fairer reflection of their involvement in build-up play.

It’s clear that neither player was particularly strong on this metric, with Ronaldo averaging 0.11 xA per 90, compared to Aubameyang’s 0.09. The United forward was, however, slightly superior in terms of key passes, with an average of 0.91 per 90 to Aubameyang’s 0.68.

Aerial Ability

Considering Ronaldo is renowned for his ability in the air, the statistics from last season suggest he struggled with aerial duels following his return to the Premier League, winning just 45.3%. He had managed 58% during his final campaign at Juve.

It means Aubameyang can actually compare pretty favourably with the Portuguese international in this area, with the 33-year-old winning 43.5% of his duels.

Pressing

Tuchel needs his forward line to press, and one of the main complaints about Ronaldo is that he has no interest in working hard off the ball. It is borne out in the stats.

In terms of the number of pressures per 90 minutes made last season, the 37-year-old averaged just 6.59. For Arsenal and Barcelona in the league, Aubameyang pressured his opponent 16.8 times per 80. If you want a pressing forward, there is only one choice.

From the numbers then, we can see Chelsea are making the right choice going after Aubameyang instead of Ronaldo.

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