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Premier League giants Chelsea have reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with defender Marcos Alonso heading to the Catalan club.
The deal was locked in on the transfer deadline day, according to reports in the British media.
Chelsea, who have been playing without a recognized striker, are set to pay a fee in the region of 10 million pounds plus Alonso to bring Aubameyang back to London, according to Sky Sports. Aubameyang, who had joined Barcelona in February, will be back in the Premier League after leaving Arsenal earlier this year.
It will be a reunion for Aubameyang with Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel after their previous stint together at Borussia Dortmund.
Aubameyang, who has 3 years left in his Barcelona contract, scored 13 goals in 24 matches in all competitions for the La Liga giants but he was deemed surplus to requirements after Barcelona signed Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich. The need to comply to La Liga’s financial rules also meant the Catalan club needed to offload players.
Aubameyang is set to return to London, where he played for 4 years for Arsenal. The 33-year-old was the Premier League’s joint top scorer in the 2018-19 season and led Arsenal to the FA Cup in the following campaign, but had a fall-out with Arsenal and their manager Mikel Arteta last season over disciplinary issues.
Aubameyang will not be immediately available for selection at Chelsea as he suffered a jaw injury following an armed robbery at his home and is expected to be out of action for three weeks.
Chelsea have been playing without a recognised striker after Romelu Lukaku moved back to Inter Milan on loan in the close season while Timo Werner returned to RB Leipzig. Tuchel’s men signed a number of high-profile players in the transfer window, including Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly
