The Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang transfer saga has certainly seen its share of tension and conflict. Or at least Borussia Dortmund Sporting Director Michael Zorc has done his part to make this potential deal more contentious. Nine days ago, Zorc threw tremendous shade at Arsenal and their manager Arsene Wenger in reaction to the Frenchman speaking openly about how the Dortmund forward would fit in with his team.
Now Zorc has warned The Emirates not to lowball them in negotiations for the sought after striker.
? Michael Zorc weiter bei @SkySportDE: #bvbscf pic.twitter.com/lys9szVbnt
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) January 27, 2018
Zorc gave an interview to Sky Sports Germany, and what he said was posted on the official BVB Twitter account, giving it the appearance of a press release, and when translated into English reads as follows:
“We have a clear position. As in the case this summer with Barcelona [with the Ousmane Dembele deal], we are prepared to undergo a transfer – but only if certain parameters are met. Arsenal has made several attempts so far, and we have rejected them all.”
“Either our demands are met and there will be a transfer, or they aren’t met and Auba will play in Dortmund until summer.”
The “either our demands our met” portion sounds like a villain in a James Bond movie talking; or maybe it only seems that way because Zorn was the villain’s name in “A View to a Kill,” and it’s so close to the name Zorc.
With just four days to go in the January transfer window, the two sides don’t have much time to hammer out an agreement, but it seems to be rather obvious that Aubameyang’s days at BVB are numbered. NBC Sports writes:
“he (Zorc) also made it clear that the club and player are now on the same page, with the two parties having come to an agreement on how to go about a potential transfer. “This is how we discussed it with his family and how it is agreed upon.” Aubameyang’s father also serves as his agent.”
The two clubs might be pretty far apart in negotiations right now though, as Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke, claimed six days ago that the talks have not even commenced by that point.
Two days later, Wenger confirmed that talks were ongoing, with the prospect of Olivier Giroud going the other way.
With another player involved, it could make the deal more complicated and thus, the Aubameyang situation is one that could come all the way down to transfer deadline day.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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