Chelsea's scattergun transfer window has reached full throttle as Todd Boehly looks to add a new forward to Thomas Tuchel's side before the end of the transfer window.
The Blues are already in talks for moves both in and out of the club for Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Frenkie de Jong, Levi Colwill, Carney Chukwuemeka, Malang Sarr and Ross Barkley, but have now added a shock ex-Premier League forward to their list of possible signings this summer.
Having already completed moves for Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly, Tuchel is clearly valuing a mix of experience and youth and has also favoured Premier League players in his attempts to bolster his squad, a move which has led them to enquire about Cristiano Ronaldo already.
READ MORE: Frenkie de Jong to Chelsea transfer could have big impact on six of Thomas Tuchel's players
Chelsea have been in need of a rebuild this summer and it's coincided with a new ownership group, making the moves very frantic ahead of the new season in just three days time. With targets cropping up across the pitch, Chelsea are being extremely busy.
Initially it looked like the defence was a priority, and with Fofana and Cucurella still being heavily pursued it still is, but Tuchel is now looking to add extra firepower to what has been a faulty attack in his time at Stamford Bridge. In a shock move, Fabrizio Romano reports that Chelsea have already opened talks with former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang over a move to Stamford Bridge.
The Gabon international only joined the Catalan club in January after being stripped of the captaincy at former club Arsenal. He might be on his way back to England sooner rather than later, as Tuchel looks to revive a relationship with the forward that he had at Borussia Dortmund.
Aubameyang joined Barcelona on a free transfer after running down his contract at the Emirates but his large wages and Barcelona's financial turmoil have seen him become open to a move back to England just seven months later after scoring 13 times in Spain.
The 33-year-old had two brilliant years in Germany under Tuchel where he scored 56 league goals in 61 matches before both parties moved on. Since then, Tuchel has praised his former player, saying this in December: "I will at some point [call him]. But, you know, I don’t want to also disturb [him],' the Chelsea manager said this week.
"I think he was a very important player for me and we had a very close relationship until today. When we meet it’s still always very, very nice. I can only say the best things about Auba as a player and as a person. I feel sorry for him that he’s in trouble. This is not where he should be with his kind of quality and the positive character that he has – and I still believe in that.
"But I’m not involved, and I’m not involved in what’s going on at his club now, and for this I also want to show my respect [to Arsenal] and not be involved and not judge what is right and wrong. I just have my picture and my relationship with Auba and this is not affected by that."
No bid has been made for the player yet but talks between the clubs could be impacted by Chelsea's interest in De Jong as a sensational double swoop comes into play, with both Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta's names also in the hat as possible players to go the other way.
The Blues are trying to take advantage of De Jong's perilous position at the Camp Nou with Juan Laporta desperate for the player to take a wage cut despite being owed up to £17million in deferred wages already. This has seen Chelsea alerted to the situation and talks are ongoing.
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