'Already started': Romano claims Chelsea in talks with 'phenomenal' player Arsenal let go for nothing

By Giuseppe Labellarte

Last season, Arsenal made the controversial decision to offload Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for free.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had decided to freeze the striker out for disciplinary reasons.

And on January transfer deadline day, Aubameyang left Arsenal by mutual consent and joined Barcelona.

The former Gunners captain did superbly in his first half-season at Barca, registering 13 goals in 23 outings.

“Auba has been a gift from heaven,” manager Xavi said (via Goal.com) in March.

Now, there’s a chance Aubameyang may return to the Premier League and haunt Arsenal on the pitch.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are now in talks with the former Gunners star over a potential move.

The transfer insider claimed on Twitter that “discussions have already started on player side”.

Chelsea are considering Aubameyang, but they’re yet to make an offer to Barcelona, added Romano.

Arsenal may have enjoyed a fruitful transfer window, but there’s no doubting their ‘asset management’ hasn’t been great over the years.

Admittedly, Arteta may have had his reasons for offloading Aubameyang, and now the squad is looking strong.

Gabriel Jesus has done incredibly well in pre-season and it’ll be exciting to see how he fares for Arsenal in the league.

But with Aubameyang, we’re talking about a player the Gunners paid a reported £60million for.

Arsenal then let the “phenomenal” striker go for free, and now he has an £83.4million release clause at Barca.

Now, if Chelsea snap him up, Arsenal run the risk of Aubameyang making them pay on the pitch.