Chelsea have ‘second thoughts’ about move for Barcelona ace, personal terms not agreed yet

According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Chelsea are having second thoughts about a move for Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Blues are unsure whether to spend heavily on the centre-forward due to his age.

Aubameyang has emerged as Chelsea’s top target for the No. 9 role following the summer departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner.

Manager Thomas Tuchel has been pushing for a reunion with the 33-year-old, having worked with him at Borussia Dortmund in the past.

Talks with Barcelona have been going on for a while now, but an agreement is nowhere in sight. Chelsea had submitted an initial offer of £15 million for Aubameyang, which the Blaugrana rejected out of hand.

There have been talks about the Blues including Marcos Alonso as part of the operation, but Barça are uninterested in such an arrangement either.

And now, Chelsea are having second thoughts about the deal due to the finances likely to be involved and the age of the player.

Barça are said to be holding out for around €25-30 million for Aubameyang while the ex-Arsenal captain will also command a significant pay packet. Chelsea are now having reservations about spending a big sum as the striker is already 33 years old and would only be a short-term fix.

Reports in the recent past have claimed that Chelsea have already reached an agreement with Aubameyang over personal terms. But, Ornstein insists that is not the case and there is no agreement in place with Barcelona or the player at this point in time.

And with doubts starting to creep in over the deal, there might be a chance that Chelsea decide to abandon the pursuit of Aubameyang altogether and look at other possible options in the market.

With less than four days left for the transfer window to close, it remains to be seen how the situation involves and whether Aubameyang continues at Camp Nou or returns to London.