Report: Arsenal agree deal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dortmund looking at replacements

That’s right, it appears to finally be happening.

According to a report from Bild, Dortmund and Arsenal have agreed a fee for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to move to the Premier League. Here’s a decent translation of their story:

According to BILD information, the change from Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (28) to Arsenal FC will be announced during the course of Monday!

According to BILD information, BVB collects a total of EUR 63 million in transfer fees for the striker, plus bonus payments.

Auba will become the most expensive transfer in Arsenal history, earning 10 million euros a year plus bonuses in London.

BVB and Arsenal had been haggling over the price, but that hurdle appears to have been cleared now. Earlier reports said that Dortmund were frustrated with the follow-up offers from the Gunner, but the reported fee now of £60 million is what the club wanted for Aubameyang to start the discussions. With the transfer window soon coming to a close, the North London club clearly just wanted to get this done and decided to give up the requested amount.

For BVB it’s good money for a player who clearly wanted to leave. Not to mention that Aubameyang is almost 29 and is a striker who relies mostly on pace for success. That’s not a bad deal at all.

It could be even better for Dortmund if they secure the replacement striker they want. According to the same report from Bild, that could be Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi.

BILD learned: striker Michy Batshuayi (24) should come to BVB!

The Belgian is to be loaned by Chelsea (12 league games, 2 goals) for the time being only. The transfer of Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud (31), however, failed. The Frenchman’s family wants to stay in England.

Batshuayi has struggled at Chelsea, but has picked it up a bit lately. He scored two goals in the Blues’ FA Cup win over Newcastle this past weekend. He’s still certainly a better option than Olivier Giroud.

A loan for Michy would fill the need for the rest of the season, but obviously Dortmund will still have to bring in a permanent signing or two to replace Aubameyang in the long term. If Batshuayi works out at Dortmund it shouldn’t be too hard to sign him permanently from Chelsea. In all likelihood they’ll have turned their attention to a newer/more expensive striker by that point anyway.

It looks like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s time at Dortmund is finally over, but it’s not all official yet. Bild claim the deal should be announced later today, so we’ll see if that’s the case.