Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to cost Arsenal £50m

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Monday Jan 22, 2018. 16:30

According to latest reports, Arsenal will have to fork out £50m in their bid to sign Gabon and Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

This comes after Dortmund’s sporting director, Michael Zorc, called the Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger disrespectful for talking publicly about their player.

The BBC reports that Wenger said the Gabonese international would fit in at Arsenal, but sources say the English Premier League side will have to pay a fortune.

Aubameyang has twice been left out of the Dortmund side for disciplinary reasons in the current German Bundesliga season and did not return to the squad as anticipated for Friday's 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin.

Instead, he was pictured playing five-a-side wearing a Dortmund shirt with Ousmane Dembele's name on the back.

Following months of testing negotiations, Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke sold forward Dembele to Barcelona for £135.5m in the summer.

The English website reports that Aubameyang's move would follow Henrikh Mkhitaryan's expected arrival at the club from Manchester United in a swap deal involving Alexis Sanchez.

On the other hand, Arsenal are confident of striking a deal over the next week which will involve negotiations over the fee and possibly a player exchange.

If Aubameyang makes his move to Emirates Stadium, the EPL side is unlikely to make any more significant singings, having been in the race to capture the services of West Brom defender Jonny Evans.