Barcelona have dropped a telling Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frenkie de Jong Chelsea transfer hint as Todd Boehly sent a four-day warning.
The Blues have just bounced back from their Leeds United defeat in the Premier League with a battling 2-1 home win over Leicester City. Raheem Sterling and Reece James stole the show for the ten men who had to compensate for Conor Gallagher’s woes.
Despite the victory, gapping holes were yet again exposed on the pitch for Chelsea. Gallagher showed once more that he isn’t able to play in a balanced midfield pivot with Jorginho. Mateo Kovacic’s and N’Golo Kante’s injury-prone status means that despite manager Thomas Tuchel’s insistence that he is happy with the current make-up of the squad, he may need to do a Jürgen Klopp-like U-turn in the final days of this summer’s transfer window.
De Jong is looking ever-more likely to stay in Catalunya as a reduced contract is being negotiated. Barcelona looks on course to win their ongoing contractual dispute with their star midfielder, but with four days left, anything can stay happen.
Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano stated that the 25-year-old moving to Chelsea is more of a possibility at this stage of the transfer window than a shock Liverpool switch. He told CaughtOffside: “My feeling is that it is Chelsea who are really pushing for him [Frenkie De Jong].”
Moving up the pitch, Aubameyang has been pinpointed as the striker manager Tuchel believes will do a good job in the short-term for at least one season. football.london understood that Chelsea were initially ‘very confident’ about agreeing to a £22million whole package deal for the 33-year-old.
However, Boehly’s insistence on including Marcos Alonso in the deal coupled with personal terms problems on contract length have resulted in a hold-up which is set to take this deal to deadline day.
One telling hint to suggest that nothing is close on either deal has been Xavi’s decision to include the duo in the squad for the Rayo Valladolid La Liga fixture this Sunday. Whether Barcelona starts either of the pair remains to be seen but their inclusion in the squad isn’t a good sign for Chelsea. Both did feature and scored In the midweek charity friendly against Man City at the Camp Nou.
