Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has revealed that his family were “scared” for his health after he lost over half a stone during his malaria ordeal last month that kept him in hospital for three days.

The Arsenal captain contracted the disease while on international duty in Gabon and missed four games for his club as he dealt with what he described as the worst sickness of his life.

Aubameyang said he was now “90pc” fit ahead of Arsenal’s crucial Europa League semi-final second leg against Villarreal tonight, and ready to start in the biggest match of their season as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit.

The 31-year-old striker said he initially thought his physical tiredness was due to the travel after the international break, before his condition deteriorated after playing against Liverpool and Slavia Prague.

“This was the worst moment of being sick in my life,” Aubameyang said. “I had three days in a row, fever, all day and all night. After that, I spoke to the doctor. I said I needed to go to the hospital because I was travelling to Africa so maybe it was something like malaria. I stayed in hospital for three days.

“I think I lost 4kg [8.8lb]. It was a bad moment and I think my family was a bit scared to see me like this. The staff did very well, and the doctors as well in the hospital. I am lucky that we took it in at the right moment because sometimes with malaria, if you don’t treat it quickly, you can have some big problems.”

The scare was the latest difficulty Aubameyang has had to overcome during a season in which he has failed to live up to expectations. He also missed three games due to the illness of his mother, and was dropped from the north London derby in March for arriving late.

Having scored 31 and 29 goals in his previous two full campaigns for Arsenal, Aubameyang has found the net only 15 times this season. He signed a lucrative new contract in September and said he felt responsibility for some of their struggles.

“This season has been really difficult,” he said. “Everyone was expecting me to score more goals. I know it. I want to give something back, because people were expecting me to score more goals and to be giving more. Definitely, I want to lead for the game [against Villarreal].”

Aubameyang has previously delivered match-winning performances in big cup games for Arsenal, including a hat-trick against Valencia in the Europa League semi-final of 2019 and the key goals in their FA Cup triumph last season.

“I was really motivated in these types of games because I received criticism about not being involved in big games,” he said. “I wanted to show people it was not true.”

Unai Emery, the former Arsenal head coach who will be making his first return to the Emirates since he was sacked in November 2019, said Aubameyang was still one of the best strikers in Europe.

“Aubameyang is a killer,” said. “He was, he is and he will always be. He is there to give everything, hoping he can perform at the top level, and if that happens he is going to be very difficult to stop.”

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta hinted that David Luiz could feature tonight, despite limping out of Sunday’s victory over Newcastle with a hamstring problem. “He has made an incredible effort to be in the position he is today,” the manager said.

Arsenal are also hopeful Kieran Tierney and Alexandre Lacazette will be fit to play after taking part in training this week. 

Arsenal v Villarreal,
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