Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has agreed to return to London, this time with Chelsea, as the Blues are sending Marcos Alonso to Barcelona along with a €14M fee for the striker, sources tell soccer insider Fabrizio Romano.
He re-joins Thomas Tuchel after the pair worked together when Tuchel managed Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, with whom Aubameyang scored 79 goals in two seasons.
The transfer comes just days after armed robbers broke into Aubameyang's home in Barcelona and injured his jaw.
Aubameyang said he expected to recover soon and that no one else was physically harmed during the robbery.
“Some violent cowards broke into our home and threatened my family and my children, just to steal some stuff,” he said. “They injured my jaw but I will recover in no time.”
Aubameyang was hit in the face and forced to open a safe where they kept jewelry, authorities said. The attackers reportedly threatened him and his wife with guns and iron bars.
“The feeling that we are no longer safe in our own home is hard to understand and describe, but as a family, we will overcome this and stand stronger than ever. Thanks for all the support, it really means a lot to us.”
Aubameyang joined Barcelona on a free transfer from Arsenal in January. Fullback Hector Bellerin will reportedly make the same move this window.
The move for the striker adds to the £268m Tuchel's club has spent this summer including obtaining Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly.
After joining Arsenal for a then-club-record £60M in winter of 2018, leaving Dortmund a season after Tuchel had been sacked, Aubmeyang scored 10 goals in 12 starts and was one of Arsenal's most prominent goal scorers.
But as goal production dipped and the relationship between new manager Mikel Arteta and Aubameyang became hostile, including stripping Aubemeyang of captaincy, the Gabon international left for Barcelona where he showed flashes of his scoring brilliance, scoring a hat-trick just three games into his La Liga season.
As Barcelona made multiple moves over the summer transfer window, including obtaining Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, Aubemeyang's playing time at Barca was in question which prompted the move for Chelsea to pick up a reliable scorer.
While Raheem Sterling has finally found his footing for the London side, Chelsea are still ninth in the table after dropping two of their first five games this season, including upset losses to Leeds and Southampton.
With files from The Associated Press
