Barcelona Linked With Surprise Move For Premier League Forward: Makes Sense?

Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in this transfer window.

The Catalan giants, who are in a very worrying financial situation as admitted by club president Joan Laporta on Monday, have so far signed Sergio Aguero, Emerson Royal, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia this summer. While the Blaugrana have £1.15bn in debt, it looks as if they want to add more players before the end of the month.

According to Sky Sports, Barcelona are fascinated by the prospect of a swap deal that would bring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Camp Nou and send misfit Philippe Coutinho to the Emirates Stadium.

Aubameyang, 32, who has a contract until 2024, had an average last campaign, as the Gunners once again missed out on qualifying for the Champions League and failed to finish even in the Europa League spots. He managed just 10 goals in 29 league appearances, missing many games due to injuries and malarial fever.

The Gabonese international missed Arsenal’s opening-day Premier League defeat to newly-promoted Brentford on Friday through illness, along with strike partner Alexandre Lacazette.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Barcelona—Does The Move Make Sense?

Barcelona have had a turbulent few weeks off the pitch, including the heartbreaking departure of legend Lionel Messi on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. However, Ronald Koeman’s side did the talking on the pitch by beating Real Sociedad 4-2 in their season opener on Sunday.

The Spanish club are seemingly looking to take a dip in the transfer window following the injury to new recruit Sergio Aguero, who has been ruled out of action for ten weeks due to a tendon injury in his right calf that will delay his debut for his new club. Perhaps, that is the reason why they want to bring in Aubameyang and get rid of Coutinho in a part-exchange.

Should Barcelona manage to sign the Arsenal forward, Ronald Koeman can use the player in a couple of ways.

With Aguero injured, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could lead the attack flanked by Memphis Depay and Antoine Griezmann if Koeman decides to go with a 4-3-3 system. Aubameyang is a clinical finisher in front of goal, as evident by 241 goals in 544 club appearances in his career so far.

Also, due to his versatility of playing out wide, the Gabonese can start on the left and allow Depay to take up the number nine position, with Griezmann behind in the hole and Martin Braithwaite off the right in 4-2-3-1 formation.

But the above formation is unlikely to bring out the best in a number of players who will surely expect to start in the first team.

To put things straight, Barcelona have enough ammunition up front to cope with Aguero’s injury and must abandon the pursuit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is 32 and can at most offer a couple of years at the highest level. Instead of signing players, the Catalan club must look to eliminate deadwood and offload the fringe players on high wages to achieve some financial stability.