Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Arsenal tried to ‘push’ through a deal that would have seen Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang join Juventus, with the Gunners keen on one of Arthur or Alvaro Morata going in the opposite direction.
The Gunners eventually allowed the striker to join Barcelona on a free transfer, with him having been left in north London whilst the team departed for Dubai to undergo a training camp.
While there was still question marks on whether he could recover his relationship with manager Mikel Arteta, it seemed as though it would be difficult after Auba was dropped from the playing squad and stripped of the captaincy in December, but it turns out that they were actively trying to offload him, including trying to push him towards Turin.
“Aubameyang, he joined Barcelona from Arsenal, but I want to tell you something behind the scenes,” Romano told his YouTube followers.
“In the final week of the transfer window, Arsenal were trying to push Aubameyang to Juventus before they signed Dusan Vlahovic.
“(Arsenal wanted) to do a swap deal – Aubameyang to Juventus and Arthur or Alvaro Morata to Arsenal.
“They were interested in a potential swap deal with Morata as a new striker or Arthur as a new midfielder.
“Both on loan, so no permanent deal. Aubameyang to Juventus and Morata or Arthur – not both of them, only one – to Arsenal.
“The answer was no. Why? Because Juventus decided to sign Vlahovic, but also because Barcelona also were trying for Morata and they received the same answer that Arsenal received for the Spanish striker.
“No from Atletico Madrid. Juventus were ready to open negotiations for Morata but (his parent club) said no because they didn’t want to accept any loan move again for (him).”
Even with Vlahovic, I think we should still have considered a swap deal involving Morata, although Atletico appeared to be an issue in such a deal.
A front three of Morata, Dusan and Dybala was refreshing to watch last night, but I feel like Auba would also flourish in a similar front three, although there is no chance of such a thing happening now.
I’m very happy with our January window, even if Kulusevski was allowed to leave us, and I’m looking forward to seeing how far this side can take us in the coming months.
Could Auba have improved our starting line-up?
Patrick
