FC Barcelona have reportedly told Chelsea that they need to ‘raise the offer’ for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang if they are going to sign the forward.
Chelsea are at the start of a new era with Todd Boehly’s consortium now in control of the football club.
The American businessman has been quick to throw his weight around in the transfer market this summer.
Aubameyang to Chelsea is a short-term gamble, but it might just work
Around £180m has been spent to bring in the likes of Marc Cucurella, Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling.
They are far from done though as they want a second centre-back and a new centre-forward.
Chelsea finished third last term and that was no thanks to Romelu Lukaku, who proved to be one of last season’s major flops.
Arsenal ended up fifth but they have made a brilliant start to this season, winning their first three games.
Gunners legend Alan Smith thinks Chelsea’s search for a new striker will be key in the top four race:
“It’s going to be really tight, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Chelsea,” Smith told Sky Sports.
“Can they get a centre-forward in? If they don’t then maybe they get pulled back to Arsenal and Tottenham’s level, and it might be a fight for two places out of the three of them.
“But the way the Gunners are going, they’ve got every chance. If they can keep it up for the next eight months – of a top-four place.”
This transfer window has been way more hectic than in previous years. Now a transfer no one could have seen coming months ago is on the cards as Chelsea are targeting ex-Arsenal captain Aubameyang.
The forward exited Arsenal earlier this year after falling out with Mikel Arteta.
He was quickly snapped up by Barcelona and he scored 13 goals for them before the end of last season.
The Spanish giants have performed a high-risk juggling act this summer as they have found a way to sign the likes of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde.
Ex-Chelsea target Kounde has not yet been registered though, with Barcelona needing to sell players to straighten out their finances.
Barcelona hope that Aubameyang’s departure can be finalised soon and they want £25m for their striker. Chelsea meanwhile would prefer to pay a fee closer to £15m.
Spanish outlet Sport (via Sport Witness) are reporting that Chelsea want to include Marcos Alonso in the deal.
The left-back has been linked with Barcelona throughout this summer and he is unlikely to feature for Chelsea with…
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