Chelsea make €27m bid for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang — report

Well, if we had hoped to get the Aubameyang deal done closer to the lower end of the £10-20m range that had been floated a few weeks ago, we’ve apparently failed abjectly, as according to Barcelona insider Gerard Romero, the bid that we’ve ended up submitting is a whopping €27m (£23m) — perhaps partially motivated by the recently rumored interest from Manchester United as well.

Of course, that value could be inclusive of potential bonuses and such — and of course it could prove to be untrue as well — but at the moment, it sure looks like a rather significant outlay for a 33-year-old player. It’s in no danger of being the most expensive deal for a player of that age thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s €100m move from Real Madrid to Juventus in 2018, but ignoring that outlier, it’s right up there with any other similar transfer. By comparison, Chelsea gave Arsenal (in the region of) £18m for Olivier Giroud, then 31.

I suppose these things are relative, and if Thomas Tuchel believes that reuniting with his former player from Borussia Dortmund is a useful move for our inefficient attack, then all the more power to us.

(Assuming this bid is true and is accepted, neither of which are a given at this point, to be clear.)