Chelsea table €27m offer for former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Posted Thursday, August 18, 2022 by 101 GREAT GOALS

Premier League title chasers Chelsea may have finally sourced a new center-forward this summer after tabling an opening bid for Barcelona's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

According to Spanish insider and Jijantes editor Gerard Romero, the Blues have set forth their opening move for the Gabonese star after offering Barça €27m (~€23m) for the former Arsenal captain.

Chelsea has yet to find the back of the net from the forward line this season with goals coming from Jorginho, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Reece James thus far, which is part of the summer fallout of both Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner departing the club for Inter Milan (loan) and RB Leipzig respectively.

Summer signing Raheem Sterling has been deployed through the middle of the front three after showing capability as a false 9 at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, but the fact remains that Chelsea needs a true center-forward, and the financial issues that continue to grip Barcelona have given the Stamford Bridge outfit an avenue to make a play at the 33-year-old Aubameyang.

The Laval-native scored 11 goals in 17 appearances in the second half of the 2021-22 La Liga season after his move from Arsenal finally went through in the wake of a massive fallout with club boss Mikel Arteta, which included him being stripped of the captaincy at the Emirates after a string of disciplinary infractions that put him far removed from the Spaniard's good graces.

But Barcelona was not content to rely solely on the Gabonese striker, and successfully acquired Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, while also securing Brazilian sparkplug Raphinha from Leeds United as well as extending the contract of French international Ousmane Dembélé.

And with last season's move for Ferran Torres from Manchester City as well as the return to fitness of La Masia starlet duo Ansu Fati and Ez Abde, minutes were sure to be drastically reduced for Aubameyang despite Xavi insisting that there was still a role for him to play at the Camp Nou in 2022-23.

However, with the desperate need for Chelsea to secure a new leading man up top, Aubameyang could well return to the English capital to once again star as the attacking focal point under a manager in Thomas Tuchel that he thrived under during their time at Borussia Dortmund together.