Chelsea remain in negotiations with Barcelona over the potential transfer of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, reputed journalist Fabrizio Romano claims.
The Blues are determined to sign a new centre-forward before Thursday’s transfer deadline, and it is quite clear that Aubameyang is the main target for manager Thomas Tuchel.
Discussions have been ongoing between Chelsea and Barcelona over the transfer fee for sometime, and Romano has now revealed that the negotiations are entering a key phase.
Meanwhile, Marcos Alonso is also being discussed in the meeting. The Spaniard has agreed personal terms with the Blaugrana since April, and only wants to join them this summer.
Our view:
Chelsea made an offer of £15 million plus Marcos Alonso this month, but the Catalans responded with a counter proposal. They requested a fixed fee of £20m for Aubameyang.
As things stand, the Blues seem reluctant to meet the price tag. At best, they could add a couple of million pounds to their proposal to try and finalise the 33-year-old’s transfer.
This could be sufficient to convince the Catalan giants, considering they may want to lower their overall wage bill despite managing to register all of their summer signings.
Aubameyang joined the Blaugrana on a free transfer in February for just £33,000-a-week, but he will be paid a hefty £15.5m this season which equates to £297,000 weekly.
Barcelona probably did not have any plans of landing Robert Lewandowski at that point of time. With the Pole’s arrival this summer, Aubameyang is no longer an assured starter.
Hence, it definitely makes sense for them to offload the former Gabon international before Thursday’s deadline. Chelsea would stand to benefit from that as they would get a proven striker.
Aubameyang amassed 68 goals and 16 assists from just 128 Premier League appearances for Arsenal. He should provide a much-needed upgrade over Kai Havertz for Chelsea.
