Chelsea beat the transfer deadline to complete a deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on Thursday night - two years after former boss Frank Lampard had urged the then-Blues hierarchy to sign the striker.
Following weeks of speculation, Thomas Tuchel landed the forward he had craved all summer after an agreement was struck with Barcelona for Aubameyang - who had only joined the Spanish giants back in January after being frozen out at Arsenal.
The 33-year-old will link up once again with Tuchel, who was eager to bring Aubameyang to Stamford Bridge after seeing the Gabon ace thrive under his leadership back at Borussia Dortmund. But Chelsea's interest in Aubameyang far predates Tuchel, and, indeed, new owner Todd Boehly.
A new report from The Telegraph has revealed that the Blues have run the rule over Aubameyang on more than one occasion in recent years; including when the veteran was on the books at Saint-Etienne in the fledgling stages of his career.
After deciding that Aubameyang was 'not physically ready' for the rigours of the Premier League, Chelsea rekindled their interest in the striker after he made the switch to the Bundesliga.
Aubameyang became one of Europe's most prolific strikers during his stint at Borussia Dortmund, where he plundered 141 goals in 213 games. That potent record saw him come up in discussions at Stamford Bridge 'almost every transfer window', according to one source.
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And even his move to Arsenal failed to kill off Chelsea's fleeting interest, with Lampard recommending Aubameyang as a potential signing back in the summer of 2020, where the Blues splashed out big money on Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.
Lampard was axed just months after signing the German duo following a rotten run of results. Tuchel ended up replacing the Blues icon in the Stamford Bridge hotseat - and the former Dortmund chief is believed to have been instrumental in the deal that has finally lured Aubameyang to Stamford Bridge.
And Tuchel admitted that he was keen to reunite with Aubameyang in the capital - even though his spell at Arsenal ended in disgrace earlier this year.
The Blues chief said: “I’m, in general, struggling a little bit with bringing players back [to work with me] because there is the risk in it that the player has an image of you but you are not the same person any more and maybe the player’s not the same person any more and this can create a bit of disappointment or a bit of mixed feelings.
“It can happen – not only in football by the way! I cannot say that it will not happen, but the point I am aware of I think is good because I maybe have a high chance not to go into the trap and wait for the Auba from Dortmund.
“I will see how he is, I will see how he behaves. But if you look at his record, even his statistics in Arsenal, where things got a bit complicated in the end, and even in Barcelona when you see the minutes he played and the goals he scored, he did what he did wherever he was, and he did it in a certain style. We checked, of course, his data, we checked his top speeds. He still has the top speed, so why not?”
