MLS club in negotiations to sign Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after being omitted from UCL squad: Reports

Major League Soccer (MLS) side Los Angeles FC are in talks with Chelsea to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The striker was open to rejoining Barcelona in the January window, but the move was blocked because of La Liga rules.

As per Revelo, LAFC are now negotiating with Chelsea to sign Aubameyang. The striker is no longer in Graham Potter's plans and was left out of the Blues' UEFA Champions League squad last week.

🚨 Los Angeles FC are in talks to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Chelsea, as per @MatteMoretto of Revelo.

He was eventually granted permission to head to Milan on Friday, hours before Chelsea took on Fulham in the Premier League. The striker's future at the club has been in the balance since. He was linked with AC Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in January.

However, LAFC have jumped the queue as he can join them immediately and not wait for the summer. The striker is said to be open to joining the MLS side should talks with the Blues are successful.

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Graham Potter on leaving out Aubameyang from Chelsea's squad

Graham Potter admitted that it was his decision to leave Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of their UEFA Champions League squad. The Blues added Joao Felix instead, who is on loan at the club.

Speaking to the media after the goalless draw to Fulham, Potter said:

"Pierre is a professional and, of course, I understand he will be disappointed. It was a tough decision, a tough call. We had three coming in and two had to go out. He was the one that missed out, he's done nothing wrong at all. We wanted to give David some game time today to see where he's at and to give him that opportunity. I think you saw that one flash that he's got. Pierre is just unfortunate and he will be fighting for his place for the rest of the season. He trained today, he trained very well and he's got the weekend off so we can report on Monday. It's a free world."

He added:

"Everything is up for grabs. He's got to keep working, train like he did today and be ready to play because football changes quickly. That's the nature of the game. Whichever decision we made there was always going to be a conversation about it but it was my decision. It was a tough decision absolutely, sometimes you have to make these calls but it's absolutely nothing bad against him. He's done nothing wrong at all."

Aubameyang joined Chelsea last summer as former manager Thomas Tuchel signed him days before his sacking.