Barcelona are back in for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, according to Gerard Romero, who claims that the Gabon international forward could make a stunning return to Camp Nou less than six months after he departed the club for Chelsea.
Aubameyang finds himself as a peripheral figure at Stamford Bridge, having made only 15 appearances for the club totalling barely 800 minutes on the field.
Graham Potter appears to have limited interest in increasing his game time, despite the offensive struggles of the Blues. Indeed, Chelsea have moved to complete a loan deal for Joao Felix, who will spend the next six months at the club, further reducing the prospect of Aubameyang player.
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The door is certainly open for the 33-year-old to return to Barca, where he has already made one appearance in La Liga this season.
Indeed, his time at the club finished on a sour note as he was attacked and injured in his own home, although he was destined to leave at that juncture in any now.
Now Barcelona could be primed to welcome him back in a stunning transfer U-turn.
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Although Barca lead La Liga, they have been left disappointed with many of their attackers this season. Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati are among the players who have been touted for a sale by the Catalan media, while even summer signing Raphinha could depart after a slow start to life at Camp Nou.
Indeed, there is a sense that the club are too reliant on centre forward Robert Lewandowski, who along with Ousmane Dembele is one of the players they want to keep at all costs.
#Auback https://t.co/QLDvt1nypF
— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) January 11, 2023
Could Aubameyang really make Barcelona return?
How a deal is brokered at this point in the transfer window, though, is unclear. Barcelona have already indicated that they will not make any signings this month, while there is an ongoing drive to reduce their wage budget that suggests this deal is not a leading priority.
One thing is for sure, though: if Aubameyang returns to Barcelona from Chelsea, it will be one of the greatest January transfer surprises ever and will only raise questions of the Blaugrana’s transfer strategy.