Arsenal has been handed a boost in their bid to keep hold of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer after Chelsea were discouraged from making a move for him.
Aubameyang is one player that Arsenal doesn’t want to lose this summer even though they risk losing him for nothing at the end of next season.
The club captain has attracted the attention of several teams both in the Premier League and outside of England’s top division.
Chelsea has been one of the teams linked with a move for him with the Blues looking to add his experience of scoring goals in the Premier League to their team as widely reported including by the Express.
However, former Blue Craig Burley has told Chelsea to sign another striker because Aubameyang is too old at the age of 31.
The former Chelsea star admits that Lampard needs to make some quality additions to his team but doesn’t think Aubameyang is right for them now.
Burley told ESPN FC as quoted by the Express: “Abraham’s a young man who’s stepped out of loan periods in the Championship to lead the line for a team that didn’t have anybody, well they did have Olivier Giroud and [Michy] Batshuayi, but they didn’t have a transfer window to go out and bring anybody in.
“And he has in all fairness to him carried that burden particularly well, way better than I thought he would have.
“However, when you see the gap to the Liverpools and the [Manchester] Citys, when you see the trouncing they got from Bayern Munich in the Champions League, then Frank Lampard and Chelsea know they need to up the quality.
“They’ve got the transfer ability now with the ban being finished and clearly they need to sign the right players.
“Now, they’ve been mooted about being interested in Jadon Sancho, but we know others are, particularly Man United.
“They have made some business already with Ziyech from Ajax but clearly they’re on the lookout for a front man.
“But you can’t blow the budget on a 31-year-old because that is too short-termism and that’s the big issue here.
“I kind of get the feeling Aubameyang wants to go from Arsenal because he’s not convinced and I wonder how much him and his representatives are going to try and force this come the end of the season.”
