Aubameyang offered Chelsea escape by Barcelona - but there's a catch!

Cameron Smith

• 18 Apr 2023 12:50 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been offered the opportunity to end his nightmare in West London and re-join Barcelona, according to reports from Spain.

The Gabonese international was signed by Chelsea last summer, with then boss Thomas Tuchel keen to be reunited with the forward after working with him at Borussia Dortmund.

However, Tuchel was sacked just days after Aubameyang was purchased, and he's been out of favour ever since.

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But, Barcelona have handed Aubameyang the chance to return to the club just one year after he left.

According to Sport, Barcelona have begun discussions with Aubameyang over a possible summer move and have revealed he must reduce his salary by 50% in order to return. The report suggests that Aubameyang is willing to agree to this, with Barcelona keen on signing him on a free transfer or on loan to minimise costs.

Aubameyang scored 13 goals in 24 appearances for Barcelona in the second-half of the 2021/22 campaign, and would provide competition for Robert Lewandowski if he were to re-join the club this summer.

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Aubameyang at Chelsea

Lampard has reintroduced the former Arsenal star back into the matchday squad in the Premier League since he was appointed as interim boss, and even brought him off the bench in the defeat against Wolves. However, Aubameyang has still only mustered 30 minutes of league action since the January transfer window shut.

Furthermore, he has been omitted from the matchday squad in seven of the past 11 Premier League matches, and has scored just one goal in the top flight.

He did net twice in the Champions League group stage, but was removed from the Blues' squad list ahead of the knockout stages, in order to accommodate January signings Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix.