Chelsea are considering making a move for Barcelona forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, football.london understands. The 33-year-old, who moved from Arsenal to Barcelona in January, has been identified as someone to bolster the Blues' attack.
As per a report from the Telegraph on Monday evening, Chelsea are expected to find out at some point this week whether they have a 'realistic chance' of signing Aubameyang this summer. Aubameyang, Frenkie de Jong, and Memphis Depay have all been offered to Chelsea over the past few days as the Catalan club look to offload some of their highest earners to clear a decent chunk of their wage bill.
Thomas Tuchel managed Aubameyang for two years when the pair were at Borussia Dortmund – and, in that time, the Gabon international netted 79 goals in all competitions. The Chelsea head coach recently refused to comment on speculation linking him with a reunion with his former striker.
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"I would be interested in the 79 goals!" admitted Tuchel. "We will not comment further. There are a lot of names out there, sometimes due to the fact we discuss a lot of names but also sometimes pure speculation. We will not get involved."
Timo Werner is closing in on a permanent switch to RB Leipzig for a fee of around £25million, as football.london reported on Monday. The Germany international is set to re-join the Bundesliga club, meaning Chelsea will have got rid of over £ 200,000 a week from their wage bill.
Werner leaving leaves Chelsea with even fewer options for the 'number nine' role in the team. Kai Havertz started in Saturday's win at Everton but failed to impress, while Armando Broja came on in the second half. Broja's future remains uncertain, but with each passing day, it looks more likely that the Albanian will stay at Stamford Bridge.
Aubameyang is indeed an option for Chelsea and Tuchel – who is clearly a fan of the former Arsenal captain. Former Chelsea man Clive Allen has been speaking about the possibility of seeing Aubameyang back in the capital.
"I think there might well be another forward coming in," Allen told football.london as per Cheeky Punter. "There's recent speculation about Aubameyang coming back to London, perhaps to Chelsea. He worked with Tuchel at Dortmund years ago, so he knows him.
"We all know his quality. He's gone out to Barca and scored goals there. He would have no fear of working with Tuchel, so that could be a big surprise transfer at the end of the window. I wouldn't put it past Chelsea doing something like that."
Meanwhile, Chelsea's priority remains the centre of defence. football.london understands the Blues are about to make a third offer to Leicester City for Wesley Fofana.
Chelsea are now quietly confident they can secure a deal to sign Fofana and make the Frenchman their fifth signing of the summer transfer window. There is, though, still plenty of negotiations ahead before he can be officially announced as a member of Tuchel's squad.
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