Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appeared to wave goodbye to Barcelona fans after scoring in their friendly against Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Aubameyang netted in the first half of the 3-3 draw against Pep Guardiola’s side at the Camp Nou in a match to raise funds for ALS research. The game was in honour of former Barca goalkeeper and coach Juan Carlos Unzue, who was diagnosed with the condition two years ago.
Aubameyang, 33, scored Barca’s equaliser after Julian Alvarez had put City 1-0 before departing the pitch early in the second half. As he went, the ex-Arsenal star received a round of applause from the home fans, to which he responded with a smile, a bowing of the head and a wave.
Goals from Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay appeared to have won the game for Barca, despite Cole Palmer’s strike, before Riyad Mahrez netted a 99th-minute penalty to level the game.
Aubameyang is the subject of strong transfer interest from Chelsea and his actions would appear to suggest he knew the friendly could be his last game in a Barcelona shirt. There is just one week left in the summer transfer window, but Chelsea remain determined to land a striker to strengthen Thomas Tuchel’s squad and he has emerged as their No.1 target.
Despite their interest, the Blues have been forced to negotiate hard with Barca for Aubameyang, who is under contract until June 2025, having only joined the Catalan club from Arsenal in January. Barca manager Xavi Hernandez does not want to lose Aubameyang, but recognises the need to trim the wage bill so that new signing Jules Kounde can be registered with La Liga.
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Chelsea have already seen a first offer of €15million (£12.6m) plus add-ons rejected by Barcelona last week. But, according to Spanish newspaper Sport, they have now returned with an improved bid of €20m (£16.9m), which does not include any add-ons.
The report claims that, although encouraged by the latest offer, Barcelona are still holding out for their asking price of €30m (£25.3m). The negotiations are likely to drag on for a few more days, but with the transfer deadline of September 1, Aubameyang will learn of his fate sooner rather than later.
Aubameyang is, it's claimed, more than happy to move back to London and the Premier League to play for his former Borussia Dortmund boss Tuchel.
He has been offered a three-year contract with the Blues and, having provided 68 goals and 16 assists in 128 Premier League appearances for Arsenal, he knows he has what it takes to succeed.
He has been successful in his short time with Barca, too, with 13 goals and one assist in 24 appearances across all competitions. The Gabon international has good memories of working with Tuchel at Dortmund, where he netted 79 goals and contributed 17 assists in just 95 appearances and won the German Cup in 2017.
