BREAKING: Chelsea agree deal to sign Barcelona striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang

Chelsea have reportedly agreed a deal to sign striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona. 

It has been widely reported that the London club have agreed a fee of £18 million for the Gabon international and that a move to Stamford Bridge is edging ever closer. 

Aubameyang only joined Barcelona in January after his time at Arsenal came to a bitter end after he was stripped off the captaincy by manager Mikel Arteta. 

Since his move to the Camp Nou, Aubameyang has made a total of 24 appearances and has scored 13 goals to for Catalan club.

However, his time with the La Liga giants looks to be at an end, partially down to the club’s signing of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich. As a result, Aubameyang will see his opportunities severely limited, something that he isn’t willing to accept. 

A move back to the Premier League with Chelsea will see Aubameyang reunited with Thomas Tuchel, the pair previously spent time together whilst Tuchel was the manager at German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund. 

The Stamford Bridge club has been looking for a striker all summer after the departures of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan and Timo Werner to Red Bull Leipzig. 

According to Barcelona insider Gerard Romero, Aubameyang has been pictured at the airport whilst also reporting the striker’s move to Chelsea is close.

🚨🚨 Aubameyang at the Barcelona airport. Ready to fly to London? pic.twitter.com/BoZIXhUjqT

— ⭐⭐ (@SignEveryone) August 25, 2022

Discussions have been ongoing between the two parties for several weeks now and it appears an agreement has been reached. 

In his previous spell in the Premier League, Aubameyang made a total of 163 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 92 times. During his time at the Emirates, he got his hands on the FA Cup and the Community Shield. 

Tuchel spoke about Aubameyang earlier in the month. 

He said: “This is totally separate from anything that is happening now, but I enjoyed a lot working with Auba while I was at Dortmund.

“Some players stay your players because you were very, very close and Auba is one of those players.

“There was always straight away this close bond. They always stay your players in a way. In Dortmund, there was never an issue.”

Aubameyang to Chelsea is now very close and is a straight-cash deal. https://t.co/QCY6eWLjN0

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) August 25, 2022

Chelsea will hope Aubameyang can bring his best form with him as the team look to challenge on all fronts this season. 

Aside from Aubameyang, Chelsea remain in the hunt for Everton winger Anthony Gordon and Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana. The deal for Gordon looks likely to be completed soon but the deal for Fofana is slightly more complicated due to Leicester's reluctance to sell.