Manchester City: Transfer News and Rumour Roundup 2

The Out of Nowhere

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Borussia Dortmund, 26, striker

This one caused major shock-waves, for a number of reasons. First of all, Aubameyang is the current Bundesliga and African Nations player of the year with a stunning 39 goals in 46 appearances last season. Second of all, we just raided Dortmund for Gundogan and getting two of their stars in one Summer seems unlikely. Third, he’s the most popular, coveted and desirable player left at BvB and they are desperate to keep him.

There had been murmurings about what he could potentially bring to City, indeed we reported on it previously, but to be honest I didn’t think this one would gain any traction. That is until Tuesday evening. One single tweet stating Aubameyang and Manchester City were in advanced talks and close to sealing the deal set the internet and local media ablaze. The only person who could do that with one tweet, outside the two sides themselves, was Sky Sports Di Marzio who has such a spotless record in this regard that it wouldn’t surprise me to learn several fans have Aubameyang shirts made out already.

But then, like that, it died down again. Dortmund lept to deny they’d heard anything about talks. The Telegraph and BBC got the same response from City. Ah, yes, he’s on the list, but they haven’t made an offer or had talks or anything. So what gives here?

First of all, both sides would obviously deny any talks were occurring regarding a player contractually obligated to his current club. Further, BvB is undergoing an exodus. Gundogan was a big loss, but how about their captain and stalwart, face of the franchise, Mats Hummels going to arch-rivals Bayern Munich? Dortmund’s failure to surpass Bayern last season, despite the plethora of quality at their disposal, should alarm fans when they start to see it all leave.

A bunch of rash signings of youngsters is unlikely to appease the BvB fanbase and losing Aubameyang may be the final straw. That’s not to say Dortmund wouldn’t sell though, a large sum upwards of £50 million would take the sting off the loss and help facilitate a fast and comprehensive rebuild that potentially would be required regardless if the top spot is to be retaken from Munich.

Regardless, Aubameyang would be an incredible pick-up for Manchester City. No messing around. This isn’t Bony being successful at Swansea, this guy is the real deal. He scores goals for fun and is one of the fastest players in the game, giving him the flexibility to work from the wing as required. Further, he has already established a good partnership with Gundogan and reuniting the two in the Premier League may be too hard for City to resist.

Do I think it will happen? At the moment I’m not sure, but there’s no smoke without fire. Di Marzio could have potentially had the information leaked to him by Aubameyang’s people to start a bid war, but we’ll never know. One common thing from both sides is that City are interested, the only debate is how much, and that gives promise. Going into 2016/2017 without another target man alongside Sergio Aguero would be folly and it all just seems to fit.

Keep an eye on this one.

Next: The Even More Unlikely