Chelsea are raising their offer to sign Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang by 5 million euros in an attempt to persuade the Camp Nou to abandon the former Arsenal player.
The Blues are in the market for a new striker after allowing Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner to return to Inter Milan and RB Leipzig respectively this summer, and former Borussia Dortmund striker Thomas Tuchel fits the law.
Robert Lewandowski arrived in Barcelona in a €50m deal from Bayern Munich, which prevented Aubameyang’s road from reaching first-team minutes, and the Catalans need to balance the books more if they want more signings before the end of the transfer window.
Aubameyang’s arrival at Camp Nou as:pic.twitter.com/NrvgHuuYz0
Football Transfers (Transfersdotcom) August 30 2022
The Blues had previously made a bid of €20m including bonuses, but Barcelona were understood to hold close to €30m. Chelsea have now met them halfway with an offer of €25m according to Italian journalist Niccolo Schira.
Marco Alonso in a partial exchange?
There is still the possibility that Marcos Alonso could be put into the deal as a big weight, though clubs also disagree over how much the 31-year-old left-back should cut from the money paid to Aubameyang.
“The challenge for Chelsea is trying to get Barcelona to do a deal worth around £15m plus Alonso, and that’s a deal already agreed upon,” CBS correspondent Ben Jacobs told Football Transfers in an exclusive interview.
“In terms of finances, the only thing holding it back is Barcelona saying that at the moment we have responded to Alonso and we are waiting and seeing whether or not they turn into that position, depending on other moves as the window closes to its end.”
He would leave Alonso at £15m or €17m with a maximum of €13m in cash for Aubameyang, so with Alonso removed from the equation, Chelsea will hope a €25m bid for cash-strapped is attractive.
Barcelona signed Aubameyang in a free game from Arsenal in February and finished the season as top scorer with 13 goals. €25m would be a huge profit for the 33-year-old, but Barcelona can still hold out for more.
