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Chelsea's hunt for a centre-forward this summer could finally come to an end in the next few hours as the club have made significant progress on their seventh signing. Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is closing towards a reunion with former manager Thomas Tuchel as per Relevo.
The Spanish outlet has reported that Chelsea are in advanced negotiations with the Catalans for the Gabonese striker's transfer. The deal is reportedly going to cost the west London club around €27 million. The English side is likely to pay €22 million up-front and €5 million through add-ons.
Relevo has conveyed that there is growing optimism in the two camps that the deal could be completed in the next few hours.
Aubameyang represents some shrewd business on Barcelona's end. They acquired the striker as a free agent in January after Arsenal terminated his contract.
In the second half of the 2021-22 campaign, the former Gunners forward solved Xavi Hernandez's goalscoring problems by scoring 13 goals in 23 appearances across competitions. Now, with just a few months elapsed, they are going to make a great profit on a player on the wrong side of the 30s they signed for free.
Chelsea supporters will have little doubt about Aubameyang's ability as they have seen him score some great goals for London rivals Arsenal in the last four years. The 33-year-old signed for the Gunners in 2018 for a price tag of €63.75 million and went on to score 92 goals in 163 appearances, while also setting up 21 for his teammates.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel will be delighted to link-up with his former player, whom he coached at Borussia Dortmund between 2015 and 2017. The Blues' recent 3-0 defeat against Leeds United showed that they need a clinical centre-forward. Aubameyang is great at making runs behind opposition defenses and the German manager will try to utilize him as much as he can to do just that.
Mikel Arteta believes Chelsea target Aubameyang deserves good reception at the Emirates
Aubameyang left Arsenal on sour terms with manager Mikel Arteta. Following a disciplinary breach last year, the Spaniard forced the Gabon international to train alone before leaving him out of the team. He eventually stripped him of the captain's armband and terminated his contract in January.
However, when asked about his possible return to the Premier League as a Chelsea player in his press conference, Arteta only had nice things to say about his former player. The Arsenal boss said, via GOAL:
"Auba is an exceptional player. He did so much for us. He was our captain, and I think we have to be grateful, very grateful as well, for what he did for this club. I hope he [gets a good reception from Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium] because I think he deserves that.
"There are moments in life, there are moments in your career, and sometimes the trajectory or the objective of each individual is different to the clubs - and you have to respect that."
Chelsea face Leicester City next on August 27 and will hope to sort out the transfer by then.
