Real Madrid turned down the chance to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January for a reduced price, according to reports.
Aubameyang became our new record signing on deadline day, but had things worked out differently, he might have never joined.
According to a report in Saturday’s edition of Mundo Deportivo, the 28-year-old was offered to Real Madrid for “€10 million” (approx £8m) less than the £56m he was eventually sold for.
They base their report on a story in The S*n from a few days before, and having had that extra time, found no reason to dismiss it. The S*n got their information from El Gol Digital.
Fortunately, Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane had already decided not to make any signings in January, and turned down the deal.
El Gol also say that Real Madrid rejected the offer when they learned of Aubameyang’s ‘methods’ in trying to force a transfer from Borussia Dortmund
This behaviour, they write, would not be ‘seen well in the White Colosseum’.
Aubameyang has spoken about his dream to play for Madrid in the past.
He wanted to join them to fulfil a promise he made to his grandfather and Madrid’s loss resulted in Arsenal’s gain.
Arsenal ended up having a clear shot at the striker, which surely helped them get the fee down and convince him to join.
Links to Madrid will no doubt resurface should he perform well in an Arsenal shirt.
By that point, we’ll hopefully have gotten the best out of him.