Aubameyang’s battle against the clock to seal Chelsea switch
The Gabonese striker lands in London in an operation in which the blue team will pay 14 million. Marcos Alonso, who is leaving for Barça, is also involved.
Thomas Tüchel has a new centre-forward. After the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, Chelsea have managed to close the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for 14 million euros plus the departure of Marcos Alonso, who will finally join Barcelona on transfer deadline day.
It brings to an end a busy transfer market for the Blues, who have spent close to 250 million euros during the two-month window, with the additions of Wesley Fofana (88 million), Marc Cucurella (65 million), Raheem Sterling (53 million), Kalidou Koulibaly (38 million).
Todd Boehly, Chelsea’s new president and interim sporting director, has managed to lure Aubameyang back to London little over half a year after he left Arsenal. He was given the captain’s armband with the Gunners then had it taken from him for bad behaviour. That was one of the reasons why Tüchel was initially reluctant to go ahead with the deal, although he has ended up giving in.
Aubameyang scored a staggering 79 goals for Borussia Dortmund, with Tüchel on the bench at Signal Iduna Park. Good memories for the German coach, who will now be able to take advantage of his ability to score goals for a team who have missed the presence of a scorer in these early stages of the season.