Former Arsenal player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would prefer to stay at Barcelona than return to the Premier League with Chelsea, according to reports.
The Blues are in need of a striker after losing Lukaku and Timo Werner – with Chelsea keen on signing Aubameyang this summer – and it is believed that the player is willing to hear them out if they make an approach.
Aubameyang has a good relationship with Thomas Tuchel but only joined Barcelona in January after his controversial exit from the Gunners, which saw his contract terminated after he fell out with Mikel Arteta.
The former Arsenal skipper enjoyed a reputation-restoring second half to last campaign in which he scored 13 goals in all competitions but his Barcelona future has become shrouded in uncertainty.
Barcelona’s current financial position, allied to the high-profile arrival of Lewandowski, has shifted the picture for Aubameyang, little more than six months after he moved to Camp Nou.
But, according to new reports in Spain, Aubameyang wants to stay at Barcelona because he feels ‘very comfortable’ at the club and has bonded well with his new team-mates.
Sport have reported that Barca would rather sell former Manchester United player Memphis Depay instead and that Xavi considers Aubameyang a vital player, although Chelsea still remain interested.
Aubameyang’s representatives are set for major talks with Barcelona’s hierarchy and Chelsea will wait for the outcome of those talks before deciding whether or not press ahead with a plan to sign a player who Tuchel knows well from Dortmund.
Speaking at the height of his Arsenal exile last December, Tuchel was effusive in his praise of the player, who helped Arteta’s side win the 2019-20 FA Cup.
Tuchel said: ‘I can only say the best things about Auba as a player and as a person. ‘I feel sorry for him that he’s in trouble. This is not where he should be with his kind of quality and the positive character that he has – and I still believe in that.
‘But I’m not involved, and I’m not involved in what’s going on at his club now, and for this I also want to show my respect [to Arsenal] and not be involved and not judge what is right and wrong.
‘I just have my picture and my relationship with Auba and this is not affected by that.’
