"Straight away there was this close bond" - Thomas Tuchel provides glowing endorsement of Chelsea transfer target 

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel discusses a former player.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel discusses a former player.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has admitted that enjoyed working with reported transfer target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The pair formed an excellent partnership during their three seasons together at Borussia Dortmund. Aubameyang excelled under the German manager and eventually earned a move to Arsenal.

Four years later, the forward left the Emirates Stadium to join Barcelona, where he has since scored 11 goals in 17 La Liga appearances. However, Robert Lewandowski's arrival at Camp Nou means he may be forced out of the Catalonian giants. Aubameyang, though, still has three years left on his current deal.

Sky Sports has claimed that Chelsea are interested in signing the Gabon international and Tuchel spoke about his former star attacker at a press conference. When asked if he has enjoyed working with Aubameyang in the past, the 48-year-old boss said (as quoted by Football.London):

"It was a pleasure. Some players stay your players because you were very close and Auba is one of these players. Even when we played against him with Arsenal, straight away there was this close bond."

Pundit claims Barcelona would be delighted to offload 33-year-old forward onto Chelsea

The Blues are in desperate need of a centre-forward following the recent departures of Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku. Although Tuchel has previously worked with Aubameyang, many have questioned whether signing a highly-paid forward approaching his mid-30s is a good idea.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Gabby Agbonlahor claimed that while the move does make sense for Chelsea. He also believes Barcelona would also be delighted with the switch. The former England and Aston Villa forward stated:

“I think Aubameyang makes sense, Thomas Tuchel needs a striker. He knows him well from Dortmund. It just makes sense. Barcelona will probably be buzzing to get him off the wage bill.”

The Spanish giants are reportedly experiencing huge financial difficulties and may have trouble registering any of their new signings unless they can lower the club's annual salary.

Aubameyang did enjoy plenty of success during his stint with the Gunners as he scored 92 times in 163 appearances. He also captained the club to an FA Cup victory in 2020 and reached the Europa League final a year earlier.

The forward eventually had his contract terminated by the club after his relationship with manager Mikel Arteta collapsed, following a series of disciplinary breaches.

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Edited by Ritwik Kumar