Arsenal are closing in on the club-record signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund – but there are hurdles to clear before his £55m transfer is finalised.
Twitter: LATEST: Aubameyang medical pencilled for Wed AM. Earlier today all set for Batshuayi loan to Dortmund, Giroud to Ch… https://t.co/cuMLBRlKve (@bbcsport_david)
After flying over from Germany earlier today, Aubameyang has been spotted at Arsenal’s training ground and according to BBC’s David Ornstein, the Gabon striker is set to have a medical ahead of a move tomorrow morning.
The contingency for Dortmund was always whether they would find a replacement before tomorrow’s transfer deadline and so far they’ve not brought a player in.
Olivier Giroud was set to make the move to Dortmund as a makeweight in the deal but as of this morning, Chelsea had made an approach to sign the France international in a £20m deal.
An agreement was met and Giroud was poised to swap Arsenal for Chelsea, with Michy Batshuayi to leave Stamford Bridge for Dortmund on loan to be Aubameyang’s replacement – but that may no longer be the case.
Chelsea have since tried to renegotiate the transfer in a bid to drive down the fee to sign Giroud which has unsettled Arsenal who are now considering pulling the plug on his move to Chelsea with a view to sending him to Dortmund instead. It remains uncertain whether Giroud would agree to a move to Dortmund seeing as he wants to stay in London.
Aubameyang will have his medical tomorrow but the deal could still collapse if there isn’t an agreement all-round between Chelsea and Arsenal for Giroud’s transfer, and likewise if Dortmund’s efforts to replace Aubameyang prove fruitful, whether it’s Giroud, Batshuayi or someone else.
