Chelsea flop told to STAY AWAY from the club

Tom Weber

• Updated: 12 Jul 2023 17:51 BST
• 3 min read

New Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has told Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to stay away from pre-season training for another week.

The Blues are in the midst of a huge summer clearout that has already seen the likes of Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic and Kalidou Koulibaly depart Stamford Bridge. Christian Pulisic, already at AC Milan's headquarters, is expected to be the next outgoing.

Nevertheless, even more players are anticipated to get offloaded in a bid to trim down a squad inflated by Todd Boehly's €600 million spending spree of last season. Hakim Ziyech is still supposed to depart despite his move to Al-Nassr falling through.

Callum Hudson-Odoi is ready to move on after failing to impress on loan at Bayer Leverkusen last term and Chelsea are still in talks with Inter to get Romelu Lukaku off the books.

READ: Chelsea to demand £50m as Premier League rivals eye midfield transfer

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the fourth player earmarked to depart and Mauricio Pochettino has now told him that he does not need to report for pre-season training until at least next week in a bid to speed up his exit.

Who can sign Aubameyang?

The Gabonese arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer but turned out to be one of the biggest flop signings in recent Premier League history. The former Arsenal and Barcelona man was brought in specifically for Thomas Tuchel, but the German was eventually sacked and Aubameyang never managed to come to grips with life at Chelsea.

At 34 years old and with reportedly huge wage demands, few European clubs are willing to take a punt on the striker. Barcelona were once said to be keen on bringing him back - with the player also begging for a return - but, according to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea are now hoping to find a Saudi buyer.

READ: Chelsea preparing offer for €40m WONDERKID as Pulisic replacement

Lukaku has also been told to not report for pre-season training until next week in hopes that his move to Inter will be finalised by then.