Transfer gossip: Club ‘confident’ Arsenal will pay £80m for midfielder; Auba ‘100%’ leaving Chelsea

Editor F365
Transfer Gossip: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Declan Rice compete for the ball

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will ‘100%’ leave Chelsea this year after being booted out of their Champions League squad. Enjoy this, and more transfer gossip…

 

AUBA TO LEAVE CHELSEA
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has not enjoyed the best of returns to the capital. Binned by Arsenal for being a bit of a menace, the Gabon captain enjoyed a decent half-season with Barcelona before signing for the Blues. Unfortunately for him, he has not performed too well and Todd Boehly is addicted the signing new players.

In what was already an extremely difficult campaign for Aubameyang, he was left out of Chelsea’s squad for their last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund – his former side nonetheless – in the Champions League.

Was this the final nail in the coffin? The last straw? Breaking point? Yes. It seems like it was all of those things.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has said Aubameyang will ‘100%’ leave Chelsea in 2023. Romano states that Barcelona expressed an interest in re-signing the 33-year-old in January but couldn’t because of ‘FIFA rules’.

According to the Daily Mail, Barca, Atletico Madrid and AC Milan have all made enquiries about Aubameyang.

 

WEST HAM CONFIDENT RICE WILL COST £80M+
Declan Rice is widely expected to leave West Ham at the end of the season and Arsenal are reportedly leading the race to sign the highly-rated England midfielder.

The Hammers at one point set an asking price of £150m, which was obviously unrealistic but just a way of fighting off interested clubs. The price is now believed to be around £80m with Rice unwilling to sign a new contract, with his current deal expiring in less than 18 months.

Football Insider reckon West Ham are ‘confident’ they will get at least £80m for their main man, as they ‘prepare for an elite-club auction’. The report states that all ‘big six’ clubs are in for Rice, except Tottenham, which would be an unrealistic destination for a number of reasons.

However, make way for Newcastle United, who could make it a big seven in no time. Should Eddie Howe’s side qualify for the Champions League, they will make a push to sign Rice.

 

ARSENAL ‘STILL’ WATCHING TIELEMANS
Mikel Arteta is clearly a fan of Youri Tielemans after reportedly completing ‘extensive background checks’ on the player last summer. He was available for a cut-price but it looks like the Gunners are holding out to sign the Belgian for nothing in the summer.

While the Tielemans stories are pretty tedious, Ben Jacobs has confirmed that Arsenal are in fact still in the hunt with the player’s contract expiring at the end of 2022-23.

“Come the summer, if Tielemans is available on a free transfer, there’ll be a variety of clubs looking at him,” CBS Sports journalist Jacobs explained.

“Arsenal will still be there for sure and we know that Tielemans very much wanted that move a year ago and was hopeful that something might come off throughout the summer, but Arsenal moved in a different direction.”

 

SMS IS NEVER COMING
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is one of those players who is perpetually linked with a move to the Premier League, but will obviously never come. And there is now some more evidence that this is the case.

With his Lazio contract running out in 2024, there have been some question marks over whether or not the Serie A club will look to cash in on him, if he will agree new terms, or if he will simply become a free agent. It looks like a new deal could be on the cards…

Frequently linked with Arsenal and Manchester United, it is baffling that rumours about Milinkovic-Savic tend to come from unreliable Italian sources, because he is a top player. Why won’t a top Premier League side sign him? Beats me.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reckon Lazio want to discuss a new deal and are eager to reach an agreement in the coming months. The Serie A outfit apparently have no desire to sell the player and hope he will continue to be their star player for years to come.

 

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