Chelsea are interested in signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and believe Arsenal will be forced to sell the striker this summer, according to reports.
Aubameyang will have just a year remaining on his contract in June and he has not yet agreed a new deal with the Gunners.
Chelsea, Barcelona and Inter are reportedly confident that Arsenal are now in a position where they will be forced to offload the 30-year-old in the next transfer window. Top articles 1/5 Chelsea target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Arsenal’s rivals believe striker will be sold.
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One of Frank Lampard’s priorities is to improve his attacking options after failing to sign a striker in the January transfer window and Aubameyang is on Chelsea’s shortlist.
Meanwhile, Barcelona attempted to sign Aubameyang in January but refused to meet Arsenal’s asking price, which was in excess of £50 million.
The Spanish champions are still interested in Aubameyang but are now understood to favour a move for Inter’s Lautaro Martinez.
The Telegraph report that Arsenal are ‘reluctant’ to offer Aubameyang a significant rise on his existing £200,000-a-week deal as they are wary of the situation they found themselves in after offering Mesut Ozil a contract worth £350,000 a week.
Mikel Arteta has said that he will do ‘as much as he can’ to convince Aubameyang to stay at Arsenal. Since joining Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in a £56m deal in January 2018, Aubameyang has scored 61 goals in 97 games for the Gunners