Chelsea reportedly had other options up front this summer before finally sealing the transfer of former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabonese international joined from Barcelona on deadline day and will now be tasked with replacing Romelu Lukaku, who last season became the latest high-profile flop to wear the number 9 shirt at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea fans will no doubt be hoping that Aubameyang can still perform week in and week out even at 33 years of age, but one has to wonder if there are better options out there.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea were one of the clubs that offered Cristiano Ronaldo, although Thomas Tuchel was not interested in that idea, while other big names were also apparently explored.
Robert Lewandowski, Christopher Nkunku, Rafael Leao, Victor Osimhen and Jonathan David are the other five strikers who had apparently been wanted by the Blues but for one reason or another couldn’t happen this summer.
Lewandowski ended up moving from Bayern Munich to Barcelona, while the others stayed at their current clubs for this season.
A report from All Transfers now suggests that Chelsea could be ready to try again to sign Leao from AC Milan in January, although this deal surely won’t come cheap.
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However, Aubameyang still looks like a decent option for Chelsea, as the veteran striker remains a major threat up front during his brief spell at Barca, even if things didn’t end so well for him at Arsenal.
It’s also worth noting that Aubameyang worked well with Tuchel when they were together at Borussia Dortmund, so perhaps the German tactician would now be ideal to revive his career.
