Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s club-record £56m move from Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal would never have happened without the hand of Chelsea chief Marina Granovskaia, according to Dick Law.
Concerned at the possibility of missing out on Champions League qualification, Arsenal smashed their transfer record for the second time in seven months having already paid Lyon £52m to sign Alexandre Lacazette.
Arsenal’s former head of recruitment Sven Mislintat played an important role, using his Dortmund contacts, in convincing Aubameyang to join Arsenal but it was Law who ensured a complex three-way deal which also involved Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi.
‘The Aubameyang deal was crazy because Giroud wanted out,’ Law told Goal.
‘Chelsea were loaning Michy Batshuayi to Dortmund and Aubameyang was coming to us. It was the three-way deal.
‘Dortmund said if we don’t get the player from Chelsea, then Aubameyang doesn’t leave and, of course, if we didn’t get Aubameyang, we weren’t going to let Giroud go.
‘In football, we don’t end up talking to our counterparts on a personal basis very much, but we were at such loggerheads during that three-way move that I called Marina [Granovskaia] and said everything was going to live or die on the three of us trusting each other.
‘I’ve got so much respect for Marina, she’s always been a straight shooter.
‘And she said if we get Giroud, we will loan our player to Dortmund and then you guys can sort yourselves out with them. And that’s what happened.’
