Chelsea outcast receives mammoth £26 million-per-season offer from Saudi clubs: Reports
Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has reportedly received a £26 million-per-season contract offer from two Saudi Pro League sides in the ongoing summer transfer window.
Aubameyang, 34, has been marked as a potential summer sale as the Blues are in the midst of a major squad rebuilding process under new manager Mauricio Pochettino. He failed to shine in his first season at the club after arriving from Barcelona for a fee of over £10 million last summer.
A right-footed striker blessed with shooting and positioning, the Gabonese started just 11 of his 21 appearances past campaign. He scored three goals and provided one assist in 960 minutes of first-team action.
According to Fichajes, Aubameyang could kickstart the final stage of his career in Saudi Arabia as he has received two lucrative offers from Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab of late. He could earn around £26 million a season should he decide to accept one of the two aforementioned offers.
Aubameyang, who is in the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge, could opt to secure a final big payday before hanging up his boots in the future. He would be the fourth Chelsea player to head to the Gulf state following N'Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy's respective moves to Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli this summer.
Prior to his move to Chelsea, the AC Milan academy graduate relished two stellar spells at Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund. He registered 92 goals and 21 assists in 163 matches for the north London outfit while scoring 141 goals and providing 36 assists in 213 games for BVB.
Aubameyang, who has reportedly been told that he is not in Pochettino's plans, is not the only Blues striker who could be sold in the future. He could reportedly be accompanied by Romelu Lukaku, who is on Inter Milan and Juventus' radar, to the Saudi Pro League soon.
How will Chelsea's strike line look after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's departure?
Chelsea are expected to go into the upcoming 2023-24 campaign with new signing Nicolas Jackson and academy product Armando Broja as their two central options. While they roped in the former from Villarreal for £32 million last month, the Blues sent David Datro Fofana on a season-long loan to Union Berlin earlier this week.
The Stamford Bridge outfit could also utilize £52 million summer arrival Christopher Nkunku as a makeshift number nine. Meanwhile, they are likely to rely on Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke as their primary wide options next campaign.
So far, Chelsea have sold Kai Havertz to Arsenal in a deal worth up to £65 million and Christian Puisic to AC Milan for an initial fee of over £17 million. They are set to facilitate permanent transfers for Aubameyang, Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi in the coming weeks to streamline their ranks.