Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s potential move to Barcelona will open up the door for the Gunners to sign Raul de Tomas from Espanyol.
That’s according to AS, who say that Aubameyang’s departure would ‘facilitate’ a move for the Spanish striker as a replacement.
The newspaper explains that sources close to the Aubameyang deal are currently ‘very optimistic’ that a move to Barcelona will happen.
An agreement between the striker and the Catalan giants was reached days ago and is now ‘complete’ while Arsenal’s ‘desire’ to get rid of him has not diminished.
A lack of other offers could lead to a ‘smoothing out’ of the differences between the two clubs on deadline day, and should that happen; Arsenal would move for De Tomas.
He is one of the ‘strongest options’ the Gunners have to bolster their forward line, but Mikel Arteta and co are yet to get anywhere near his €70m release clause with their bids.
Whether they will do so isn’t mentioned, but it’s stated that a move can be ‘unlocked’ by Aubameyang’s departure, which would cause a ‘domino effect’ that could see RdT move to the Emirates.