Mirror
Negotiations always get messy in those years when the transfer deadline coincides with matches being played.
But that is just one of the problems facing the new Chelsea board as they look to get to where they want to be by the close of the summer window as Thomas Tuchel’s side head to Southampton for a Premier League fixture.
Ticklish other considerations are slowing talks in a number of directions and the loss of experienced transfer window campaigners from the Roman Abramovich era could be sorely felt. Mirror Sport has rounded up the latest transfer news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge.
Aubameyang rumbles on
The suggestion of a return to the Premier League for former Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has rumbled along for most of the summer. Chelsea are still playing brinkmanship with financially-crippled Barcelona and their £15m bid remains £10m less than the asking price. However, Football London are reporting that Chelsea’s willingness to move to £22m should be enough to trigger an agreement.
At the same time, thoughts of Marco Alonso moving in the opposite direction are clouding the move – although Barcelona want to keep that option as a separate piece of business. More worrying is that personal terms that were sorted “two weeks ago” according to Fabrizio Romano but may still contain a discrepancy over length of contract. Aubameyang is desperate for a three-year deal, according to Sportskeeda, but Chelsea are reluctant to break their policy of handing out such long contracts to players in their thirties. A lot rests on a meeting between representatives of the 33-year-old and Chelsea planned for later today…