Barcelona fans caught sight of a familiar face in the dressing room as the players celebrated the 2-1 win against Real Madrid. A certain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined the post-game party, and was asked to stay by the players.
Aubameyang signed for Barça in the winter of 2022, and already became a fan-favourite within six months. He scored 11 goals in 17 games, including a hat trick against Valencia at the Mestalla, and a brace against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, after the club signed Robert Lewandowski in the summer, the player understood his role, and chose to leave for greener pastures in London. He signed for Chelsea for nearly €11 million — a sum Barcelona needed desperately at the time.
His signing was requested by Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked very early into the season. His replacement, Graham Potter, clearly does not favour the Gabonese international.
As such, Auba is desperate to return to Barcelona in the summer, and is ready to make a ‘huge effort’ to push his exit from Stamford Bridge, as per a report by AS.
The striker knows that his transfer to Barcelona will have to meet multiple conditions, the first and foremost being arriving on a free transfer. He plans to speak to Chelsea to mutually terminate his contract by expressing his unhappiness regarding playing time.
Auba will also have to lower his salary a fair bit, and accept a contract that would pale in comparison to one he received during his initial stint with Barça.
Should the 33-year-old somehow get Chelsea to let him leave on a Bosman move, his transfer would be far more feasible, as it already has the approval of the Barcelona coaching staff.
In fact, the club tried to sign him in the winter itself, but La Liga’s stipulations regarding registering the same player twice in one season avoided the move from going through.
Aubameyang’s potential arrival also goes hand-in-hand with Barça’s desire to sell one or both of Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, while retaining the services of Ez Able, who returns from loan.
They are, however, trying to sign Vitor Roque, too, from Athletic Paranaense, who is expected to be the long-term successor for Lewandowski. It would be interesting to see how Barça manage the attack line in the event of both transfers going through.
