Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will “100% leave” when Mauricio Pochettino arrives this summer, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
What’s the latest on Aubameyang’s future?
The Premier League veteran first arrived in SW6 back in September 2022 from Barcelona, but he’s always been significantly out of favour having made just five top-flight starts during his debut season, with ex-manager Graham Potter even going as far as completely omitting him from his Champions League squad.
Back in March, Romano revealed that the former Gabon international made a secret trip to Camp Nou to support his former Blaugrana teammates during a game and even went into the dressing room after the final whistle which didn’t go down well with the hierarchy.
Spanish outlet Sport soon after reported that the Blues were considering terminating his contract, which isn’t set to expire until the end of next season, 12 months early to get him off their books and out of the building, and there has now been further confirmation that he will indeed be heading for the exit door.
Taking to Twitter, Romano now reports that Aubameyang is fully expected to depart Chelsea upon the conclusion of the current campaign, a time when Pochettino is widely expected to take over. He wrote:
“Pierre Aubameyang confirms: ‘I’d like to return to Barcelona… but we will see’. Auba will 100% leave Chelsea. Barca open to sign Auba but it depends on Financial Fair Play. Only way for Barca: no transfer fee & salary reduced.”
Should Chelsea keep or sell Aubameyang?
Chelsea will probably know that they made a huge mistake by signing Aubameyang because he’s been nothing but a “liability” since joining, according to ESPN pundit and Blues legend Craig Burley, so Todd Boehly should definitely cash in during the upcoming window.
The Nike-sponsored athlete has scored just three goals and provided one assist since the start of the season, as per Transfermarkt, which is nowhere near a good enough return in the final third, not to mention that he’s ranked the 31st worst player out of the 32 squad members with a WhoScored match rating of just 6.12.
Finally, Aubameyang currently pockets £160k-per-week in the capital which is extraordinary for a player who’s failing to make any kind of positive impact so sanctioning his sale would free up the wage bill and give the board additional funds to put towards recruiting some much-needed fresh faces ahead of the 2023/24 term.
