How about we send you our overpriced and overrated forward for your overpriced and overrated forward? Sound good?
That’s the potential deal we might see go down before deadline day, as FC Barcelona are interested in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and in order to get him, they could send Philippe Coutinho the other way, along with the cash.
That’s the narrative according to Sky Sports. Aubameyang, 32, signed a three-year deal last season that keeps him at Arsenal until 2024. The Gabon striker has talent and skill, but he’s really struggled lately, as he just hasn’t been the same player since he was handed the captain’s arm band at north London.
He missed the season opener due to a mysterious and unspecified illness, and he remains a doubt for the London derby against Chelsea this weekend.
Auba joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for a then club-record fee in the region of £60m in January of 2018, and while he’s certainly had his moments with the Gunners, his play dropped off significantly last term.
When Coutinho moved from Liverpool to Barca, after a long, ugly protracted transfer saga, he cost £142m, which made him the world’s third most expensive player at the time.
The Brazilian playmaker is out of favor at the Catalan club, following his loan move to Bayern Munich, where he did impress.
As one of the biggest earning Blaugranes, Barca badly need to get their wages off their books. Their financial situation is a total disaster, as yesterday Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed the club is £1.15bn in debt.
They may need to throw some cash in the deal to sign Auba, but again, given the current predicament they’re in, how much will they really have at their disposal?
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.