Word stemming from the Spanish media on Friday suggests that the powers that be at Premier League giants Chelsea are prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent out-of-favour attacker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from joining Barcelona in the summer.
Frontman Aubameyang, of course, has endured something of a nightmare campaign to date.
After tumbling down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge under the watch of Graham Potter, the former Arsenal standout has been afforded starts in a paltry total of four of Chelsea’s 27 Premier League outings to date.
Such woes even led to widespread reports that Aubameyang was set to depart west London mid-season, less than six months on from linking up with the Blues.
In the end, he ultimately stayed put, but a summer divorce between the parties now looks a near inevitability.
When it comes to potential landing spots for ‘Auba’, to this point, the outfit most persistently tipped in the media have come in the form of Barcelona.
The transfer team at the Camp Nou of course sanctioned the Gabonese’s sale to Chelsea less than a year ago, but would, allegedly, be keen to bring him back in for a cut-price fee, as backup for Robert Lewandowski.
In turn, a bizarre return to sender deal has been touted between Barca and Chelsea ahead of the summer.
As alluded to above, though, if the latest word stemming from Spain on Friday is anything to go by, then the latter, in fact, would rather Aubameyang land just about anywhere else.
As per a report from Diario AS, the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge were left furious earlier this month, when their struggling striker was photographed front and centre in the post-match changing room celebrations, after Barcelona got the better of Real Madrid in the latest edition of El Clasico.
So poorly did the situation go down, that it is now claimed that Chelsea will outright refuse to sell Aubameyang back to the Blaugrana - his club of choice.
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