Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang plays football with friends

Many of his Arsenal team-mates will be playing in front of a global audience at the World Cup this summer, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked just as happy to be enjoying a kick-about with his friends.

The striker, who is not going to Russia after Gabon failed to qualify, kitted his mates out in Arsenal shirts as they enjoyed a friendly match before hitting the gym to undertake a notoriously gruelling CrossFit workout.

Aubameyang was joined by his brother Willy, who shot most of the footage from the day, and a number of his closest friends on the outskirts of Milan in Italy.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled on his Arsenal kit as he played a match with his friends

The Arsenal striker attempts to recover in between exercises during his gym workout

The Gunners star is enjoying a summer break on following a successful first six months with his new club. Aubameyang scored 10 goals and provided four assists in 13 Premier League matches after joining for a club-record £55.4million in January.

That form serves to suggest that he may be a strong contender for the Golden Boot next season and he will certainly form an important part of new manager Unai Emery’s long-term plans at the Emirates.

And Arsene Wenger’s successor will be glad to see his star striker is not resting on his laurels and should return to pre-season training as fit as ever ahead of what is likely to be a very important campaign for the club’s long-term future.

Emery will be handed the task of getting Arsenal back into the Champions League, which can be achieved by either finishing in the Premier League’s top four or by winning the Europa League.

The Gabon international sweltered in the summer heat as he completed a CrossFit session

The Arsenal striker gets his hamstrings stretched by a personal trainer during the workout

The Gunners came so close to doing the latter last season, falling to defeat in the semi-finals to Atletico Madrid, but finished a full 12 points behind fourth-placed Liverpool in England’s top flight. 

Emery’s arrival will breathe new life into the club and, speaking last month, Aubameyang declared his excitement at being a part of a new era in north London.

He told RMC: ‘On one hand, it’s strange for all the fans that the coach has left. But it’s definitely a fresh start.

‘Since over the last few seasons – you have to tell the truth – the club has stagnated a little bit, I think everyone is actually a little bit excited to see what happens next season.

‘It is strange that the coach has left after 22 years. But that’s life – we have to look forward.

‘It’s going to be a new start so we’ll have so we’ll have to see how it goes… everyone will have to get it into their heads that we have to work hard to rival the best.’

Fans wait patiently to get an autograph from Arsenal’s record signing at the pitch in Italy