Arsenal in shock Aubameyang & Coutinho transfer swap talk

With Arsenal still heavily invested in the transfer market, several rumors are bound to float up from time to time. The latest speculative garbage involves a player swap with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang heading to Barcelona and who else but Philippe Coutinho heading to north London.

According to Sky Sports, this is an idea that has been put forth by the Catalan club as the harsh reality of its financial position becomes apparent. The thought of a player swap involving Aubameyang and Coutinho could be somewhat enticing for the Spanish giants due to the Brazilian currently earning a higher salary than the Gabon international.

With La Blaugrana in crushing debt to the tune of £1.1bn, the thought of offloading Coutinho and his wages could potentially offset the fees involved in adding the Arsenal skipper to its ranks. The Brazilian joined the Spanish giants in 2018 for a fee of £106m back in 2018, however, he has seriously flopped since his arrival. One of the all-time worst deals.

Given that the Gabon international is currently in the first year of his £350k-per-week deal, it is still something Barcelona is said considering as a serious option. Of course they would be. They’re outstandingly incompetent.

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Arsenal in shock Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang & Philippe Coutinho transfer swap talk with Barcelona in the biggest nonsense rumour of the summer

Aubameyang’s current deal goes until 2024 and with his form in serious question, his future is somewhat up in the air. At least as far as rumours go, that is. Add to that, Lacazette is in a similar boat with his future as he enters the final 12 months of his current deal. The pair’s absence from the Gunners opening day defeat to Brentford raised some eyebrows as Arteta stated both were unwell.

There have been several rumors floating around that the strikers could have COVID-19 but this wasn’t confirmed by the club, although the truth has seemingly since come to light. Speaking on the Handbrake Off podcast, James McNicholas stated, without confirming, that it is highly likely the pair are self-isolating due to COVID-19 and that the Premier League didn’t want the top story for the start of the season to be related to coronavirus.

That explains the hush-hush nature of the situation’s handling.

So, back to this transfer nonsense, what is this potential deal worth? Arsenal would be getting a soon-to-be 30-year-old attacking midfielder (which they need) that has not been the same since his Liverpool days. Were Arsenal getting that version of the Brazilian, then this deal would make a touch more sense.

However, that is not the player Arsenal would be getting. Plus his age is also a worry, given Coutinho could only have two or three years tops at this level. If indeed he has that. Meanwhile the Gunners’ other midfield target in Martin Odegaard is seven years younger, is a better player at this point in time and fits the profile of player the club have been pursuing all summer. They’re chalk and cheese by comparison.

However, on the other side of the coin, Arsenal has made no secret in the fact that they want players off their books. Given Lacazette is heading into the final 12 months of his deal, it could be a situation where the Gunners get something in return for Lacazette instead of losing him for free next summer, which they are actively attempting to do. This part of the embarrassingly opportunistic click-bait verbal diarrhoea is true.

This will all count for naught if Aubameyang or Lacazette do not want to go to the Spanish giants. You can understand why they would, though. Were any of this to be true, that is. According to Sport (dead giveaway), the pair are said to be keen at the prospect of joining Barcelona. It’s incredible how many phonecalls they can make to agents and the like while they’re at home confined to four walls.

In reality, this is not a smart deal for Arsenal even though there are arguments to be made for both sides; getting an older midfielder when Odegaard is wanting to come to the Emirates would be new heights of insane especially since he’d need a shiny new contract and cost a fortune in salary.

But we do know that when it comes to transfers, Arsenal is about as easy to read as long division. With two weeks to go until the transfer window slams shut, there is a lot to play out regarding the Gunners transfer dealings.

Will Arteta get the players he wants and offload the ones he doesn’t? Your guess is as good as mine. This, however, is load of old tosh.