Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is long-rumored a transfer target by Barcelona, and he could be joining up with the Catalan giants as early as the coming summer, but that could be a remote possibility by now. That's because of reports that Camp Nou will want to prioritize the acquisition of Neymar and Lautaro Martinez.
It is no secret that Barca captain Lionel Messi has been working on the return of Neymar to the Spanish side, and to further beef up the club's striking capabilities, he wants the team to bring over his fellow Argentine from Inter Milan.
That appeared to be the focus now for Barcelona when the summer transfer window opens up. According to Metro, "the Catalan giants would prefer a move for Martinez or an attempt to bring Neymar back to the Nou Camp over a bid for the Arsenal man."
This came in following the reports from Paris that Paris Saint-Germain is making Neymar available to Barcelona in the summer, which, if true, will dampen the chance of Aubameyang playing for Barcelona next.
However, the report said that even if Barcelona is successful in landing both Neymar and Martinez, an opening in the club's striker slot, likely by way of injury or transfer out, will put the Gabon international on the top list
The high consideration by Barca for the Arsenal hitman is understandable as his spell so far at the Emirates resulted in 80 games appearances and 69 goals, making him the Gunners' most prolific goalscorer.
And the talks of Aubameyang leaving Arsenal have been fired up by the circulating story that the striker has refused to extend his contract with the English club unless he gets a pay rise, set at £300,000 per week. Apparently, the Gunners have yet to decide on whether to grant the team skipper's demand or to just sell him instead.
For his part, Aubameyang said that he is happy where he plays at the moment, pointing out that "it is really a pleasure to be here."
"When I was younger I used to watch Arsenal because they always had great players and they won trophies as well," the Gunners captain was reported as saying.
Former Arsenal forward Ian Wright said that while it would be sad to see Aubameyang go, it is understandable for the 30-year-old to search for glory elsewhere.
"If you can imagine him in a better team, he would be winning Premier Leagues and vying for places in Champions League finals and I think he deserves that," the Express reported Wright as saying.
"We're talking about a goalscorer who is scoring at the rate of a Champions League player, a world-class goalscorer ... We're talking about the last big contract in his career," the pundit noted.
