Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tried to force through a move to Chelsea in January according to an EXCLUSIVE in Saturday’s Daily Mail which is nice to hear the same day the two sides are set to meet in the FA Cup final.

Arsenal's Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (C) celebrates scoring their second goal during the English FA Cup semi-final football match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in London, on July 18, 2020. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP)
Arsenal’s Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (C) celebrates scoring their second goal during the English FA Cup semi-final football match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in London, on July 18, 2020. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP)

Of course, the Daily Mail published this i nformation as soon as they learned of all this for their EXCLUSIVE. They absolutely, positively, didn’t find out about this story and then hold onto it in order to publish it when it would do maximum damage.

Like on the morning of a cup final between the two sides.

Mike Keegan claims in his piece, that makes up the main article on the back page despite the headline going to another piece about lockdown restrictions being brought back in.

Daily Mail 1 August 2020
Back page, Daily Mail 1 August 2020
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Mike Keegan, Daily Mail 1 August 2020: PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG tried to force through a shock move to London rivals Chelsea in January, Sportsmail can reveal. Contact was made on behalf of the Arsenal captain — who is set to line up against the Blues in today’s FA Cup final — but the deal collapsed over the striker’s high wage demands. The 31-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of next season, was said to be keen on a move that would no doubt have infuriated the
Gunners’ supporters
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG tried to force through a shock move to London rivals Chelsea in January, Sportsmail can reveal. Contact was made on behalf of the Arsenal captain — who is set to line up against the Blues in today’s FA Cup final — but the deal collapsed over the striker’s high wage demands. The 31-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of next season, was said to be keen on a move that would no doubt have infuriated the Gunners’ supporters. But insiders said that a subsequent request for a staggering salary — which would have made him comfortably the highest-paid player in Chelsea’s history — put an end to the prospect at the time. Aubameyang signed for Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for £56million in 2018. Since his arrival, only Liverpool’s Mo Salah has scored more Premier League goals than the Arsenal man’s 49. Despite signing £53m Germany forward Timo Werner for next season, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is still on the hunt for attacking options, but Aubameyang would have to lower his demands to resurrect a deal. Aubameyang has scored 27 goals this season and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be desperate to keep him — despite the likes of Barcelona and AC Milan circling. Fans fear that Wembley may see his final outing for the Gunners, although much will depend on the result. If Arsenal win, they qualify for the Europa League and the increased revenue that would bring will raise the likelihood of them being able to tie down the striker.
Mike Keegan, Daily Mail, 1 August, 2020: But insiders said that a subsequent request for a staggering salary — which would have made him comfortably the highest-paid player in Chelsea’s history — put an end to the prospect at the time. Aubameyang signed for Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for £56million in 2018. Since his arrival, only Liverpool’s Mo Salah has scored more Premier League goals than the Arsenal man’s 49. Despite signing £53m Germany forward Timo Werner for next season, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is still on the hunt for attacking options, but Aubameyang would have to lower his demands to resurrect a deal. Aubameyang has scored 27 goals this season and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be desperate to keep him — despite the likes of Barcelona and AC Milan circling. Fans fear that Wembley may see his final outing for the Gunners, although much will depend on the result. If Arsenal win, they qualify for the Europa League and the increased revenue that would bring will raise the likelihood of them being able to tie down the striker.

Arsenal have been trying to get Aubameyang to sign a new deal for a while now and, recently, Mikel Arteta sounded pretty confident the striker would stay.

Maybe that’s because the club now know they will be the only ones willing to meet Aubameyang’s wage demands.

If Arsenal manage to get rid of Mesut Ozil this summer (which is not a given) they will free up a lot of cash they can use to increase Auba’s wages.

Of course, you don’t want to end up in the same situation with Aubameyang as we’ve had with Ozil.

Reports on Friday claimed that Mesut Ozil is in Turkey while Matteo Guendouzi has not been training meaning neither, as expected, will be involved in our FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.

As for Aubameyang, we still don’t know if it will be his last game in an Arsenal shirt or not.

One thing is certain, the Daily Mail have made Aubameyang’s life at Arsenal that little bit harder today, and they know it.