ARSENAL reportedly rejected the chance to swap Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang for Paris Saint-Germain’s Mauro Icardi in January.
Former club captain Aubameyang was banished from the first-team after a ‘disciplinary breach’ late last year and looked certain to leave the club either in January or this summer.
And according to The Athletic, the Gunners rejected the opportunity to trade Aubameyang in for a younger, high profile striker in Icardi.
The 28-year-old joined PSG from Inter Milan in 2019 on an initial loan before the move was made permanent.
And he has since scored a respectable 38 goals in 87 appearances, playing second fiddle to Kylian Mbappe.
But a move to the Premier League failed to materialise with Arsenal rejecting the opportunity to sign Icardi as they weren’t ‘clear on the candidates they would be prepared to pursue.’
Aubameyang then completed a late move to Barcelona.
Arsenal will instead hope their current group of players in the striker department – Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah – can see out the season.
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Technical director Edu and boss Mikel Arteta will revisit the situation in the summer and bringing bodies in up front will be one of the top priorities with both Lacazette and Nketiah out of contract.
In terms of potential targets, as SunSport revealed, the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Alexander Isak and Jonathan David are all being looked at.
Arsenal are also looking to bolster their midfield as well and Wolves’ Ruben Neves is an option.
But Neves could cost the Gunners upwards of £40million.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk