Club hopes the striker can be part of a late flurry of signings alongside Fofana, De Jong and Gordon Barcelona value Aubameyang at £21 million
Thursday, August 18 2022, 3.00pm BST, The Times
Chelsea are optimistic that a deal for the Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang can be reached as further talks are scheduled this week.
The 33-year-old former
Arsenal captain is understood to be open to a move to Stamford Bridge but has
not yet reached a decision on his future.
Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea
head coach, wants to be reunited with Aubameyang, with whom he worked at
Borussia Dortmund, as he and the club’s interim sporting director, Todd Boehly,
look to sign a striker before the transfer window closes on September 1.
Chelsea hope that Aubameyang
will be part of a late flurry of signings that would include the Leicester City
defender Wesley Fofana, the Everton forward Anthony Gordon and Frenkie de Jong,
the Barcelona midfielder.
Barcelona are believed to
value Aubameyang, who joined them on a free transfer in January, at £21 million
and are looking to offload a forward this summer after signing Robert
Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.
Xavi Hernández, the head
coach, does not want to lose Aubameyang and has told the Gabon forward that he
is part of his plans, yet the Catalan club may look to cash in on an
opportunity to reduce their inflated wage bill.
Aubameyang
scored 13 goals in half a season last term but his cost to the club has
increased because Arsenal supplemented his salary payments for only the first
six months of his time at the Nou Camp.
Chelsea are
hopeful that Aubameyang would be one of two signings from Barcelona this summer
as the west London club remain confident of landing De Jong.
Agreeing a fee
for the Holland midfielder has not been a concern but Barcelona was De Jong’s
childhood club and he has been unwilling to leave. Barcelona have told the
25-year-old that he will have to take a salary cut, and threatened legal
action, unless he departs.
De Jong wants
to play in the Champions League, which leaves Chelsea confident that Stamford
Bridge would be his first option if he does agree to leave.
Manchester
United pursued De Jong this summer but have lost faith in signing him despite
the lure of a reunion with Erik ten Hag, the manager with whom he worked at
Ajax. They have turned their attention instead to the Real Madrid midfielder
Casemiro.
Chelsea had a £70m bif for Fofana rejected by
Leicester
CRAIG MERCER/MB MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES
Brendan
Rodgers said Leicester City have not received any fresh bids for Wesley Fofana
since they rejected Chelsea’s last offer of over £70 million.
The Times understands the 21-year-old has told the Leicester manager he
wants to leave but he has not handed in a transfer request. “He’s a great kid.
He’s loved by his team-mates. He’s a great personality. He’s still developing.
He’s nowhere near the finished article,” Rodgers said.
The
defender has started both of Leicester’s Premier League games this season and
while there continues to be speculation surrounding his future Rodgers said he
would be prepared to take him out of the team if he is not 100 per cent
focused.
“I’ll
always assess that after each training session,” Rodgers said. “Mentally he’s
fine. As you can imagine as a 21-year old with the spotlight on you and talking
about what you can earn at another club and where you can play, it’s a
challenge.
“He’s
been absolutely brilliant since the first day he arrived here, fantastic for
the club when he’s played. The club really stuck by him when he was injured,
and he’s come back and shown the top young talent he is. But it’s a challenge
for any player, particularly a young player.”
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