Chelsea have been given a warning over their alleged pursuit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
“Jurgen Klopp never wanted him back.”
Thomas Tuchel would be keen to bring his former Borussia Dortmund striker to Stamford Bridge, following the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner this summer.
Both signings proved costly mistakes for the Blues, with £97.5million man Lukaku returning to Inter Milan on loan just one season after his huge move to London, while Werner joined RB Leipzig for just over half of the £47.5million. fee they paid the Germans to sign him two years ago.
Chelsea are running out of time to replace them and find a new striker to lead the line this term with less than three weeks until the transfer window closes.
One of their targets is former Arsenal man Aubameyang, who has fallen down the pecking order at Barcelona following the Catalan club’s spending spree.
Despite the arrival of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha at the Nou Camp in the summer, manager Xavi says Aubameyang is still part of those plans and doesn’t want to lose him, but Barca may not have a choice if Chelsea submit a bid, due to the club’s need to raise additional funds.
Barca pulled another ‘lever’ this week with the sale of a stake in their in-house media production company Barca Studios, which saw them register four or five summer arrivals.
However, Jules Kounde – who snubbed Chelsea to join the Spanish giants – remains unregistered ahead of their season opener and selling one of Aubameyang, Memphis Depay or Frenkie de Jong would likely put enough money in the bank to officially add the French defender to their team. listing.
Tuchel is certainly enthusiastic, with the manager speaking this week about his close relationship with Aubameyang since their spell at Dortmund – which saw the striker finish top scorer in the German coach’s two campaigns in charge.
But former Blues striker Tony Cascarino has sent a word of warning to his former club.
“He’s a great finisher and a fabulous footballer, but my only concern is that Jurgen Klopp has never pursued him,” the Weekend Sports Breakfast host said on talkSPORT.
“He worked a lot with Aubameyang at Dortmund, but Jurgen was never interested in re-signing him.
“He was also brilliant for Klopp, but never opted to bring him in – what does that tell you?
“There’s one thing about having a player you had in your twenties and he excels for you, which is what Aubameyang did at Dortmund, and then having him again at 33.”
Despite his reservations about his character, Cascarino is confident the striker could be a success alongside Tuchel on the pitch.
“If Chelsea play a counter-attacking style, Aubameyang will score goals,” he said.
“Chelsea created a lot of chances last year and Romelu Lukaku didn’t take enough, and neither did Timo Werner.
“But Aubameyang can do that, he’s a good finisher.
“So if Thomas Tuchel wants to play a certain way, attacking and punishing teams on the counter, the movement of their players has always been exceptional, and if they add a clinical striker to that, I can see Aubameyang scoring goals .”
Tuchel declined to comment on Aubameyang’s chances of moving to Stamford Bridge when asked about the rumors earlier this week, but revealed his ‘close bond’ with the striker.
“It’s totally separate from everything that’s going on now, but I really enjoyed working with Auba while I was at Dortmund,” the Chelsea boss said.
“Some players remain your players because you were very, very close. And Auba is one of those players.
“There was always this close bond right away. They are still your players in a way.
Asked about the Arsenal striker’s sour exit following his falling out with Mikel Arteta, Tuchel added: “I haven’t had any problems with him.
“It has nothing to do with the situation at Arsenal, which I also won’t comment on out of respect.
“In Dortmund, there was never a problem.”
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