Arsenal transfer boost as Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp rules out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang swoop

James Benge29 January 2018

Arsenal have received a boost in their pursuit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Jurgen Klopp has ruled Liverpool out of the race for the Borussia Dortmund striker.

The Gunners are currently without a rival in their pursuit of the Gabon striker, though for now that has not made it any easier for them to conduct their transfer business.

Dortmund have rejected two offers from Arsenal, the latter worth around £50million, and confirmed yesterday that Aubameyang would not be sold on the cheap after naming him in their side for a 2-2 draw with Freiburg on Saturday.

The German side would hope to enhance their bargaining position by attracting rival suitors to Arsenal but the 28-year-old Aubameyang, who has a history of disciplinary issues at Dortmund, has not yet attracted widespread interest.

​Klopp brought Aubameyang to Dortmund in the summer of 2014 but confirmed he will not seek a reunion with his former striker at Anfield, though the Liverpool manager did offer him a glowing character assessment.

“Auba is really a good guy,” Klopp told DAZN. “Of course, reading the newspapers, you ask yourself if all these things must happen.

“But in fact things are mostly not that controversial as they are presented. In the end everybody will be happy.

“In the first half of the season he also scored often although last summer he wanted to go to China allegedly.

Aubameyang returned to the Dortmund side on Saturday 
Bongarts/Getty Images

“He is a great player but he does not play in a position for which we urgently need new players.”

Aubameyang played the full 90 minutes for Dortmund on Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw that did little to enhance their Champions League prospects, with the striker himself struggling to make an impact.

Supporters had already turned on him – holding a banner in the Westphalenstadion that proclaimed “no player is bigger than the club” – whilst Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said Aubameyang would only be sold if Arsenal paid the full asking price.

Even his team-mates did not profess a desperate desire for him to say, Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin saying: “The decision lies the coach, we have to respect that.”

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